Vices Versus Virtues
by CiaraUotani
Summary: Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she's ever had, and is now working to take over Clow Corporations. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble is bound to stir.
1. Chapter 1- Sakura Kinomoto

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she' ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_Chapter 1- Sakura Kinomoto_

The sun shined brightly through the thin curtains and poured into the small one bedroom apartment. Sakura turned over in the warm bed, not wanting to get out and start another day. Her phone buzzed on her side table near her head, and she groaned as she reached for it. The screen was a bright light on her face, and she squinted as she tried to read the name on the screen. The blurred letters came into focus, and the culprit for making her get up was none other than her guardian while in Tokyo, Kero. "Good morning…" she said softly flopping back down on the mattress.

"Well aren't you a ray of sunshine this morning." He laughed from the other end. Sakura rolled her eyes at her guardian and decided it was time to flop her butt out of bed and start her day. "I was calling to remind you that you have an important meeting to go to today in my place."

"I know, I know. I was just starting to wake up when you called." Her bare feet padded across the wooden floor to the kitchen to get some coffee. The coffee maker beeped just as it finished its preset brew. Sakura sighed as she took a long sip of coffee, just the way she liked.

"You do realize the meeting is in less than an hour. As my representative of Clow Corporations, you need to be there." Kero scolded. But as per usual, Sakura paid no mind to Kero's scolding and continued to enjoy her coffee.

"I know, Kero. I promise I'll be on time; I always am." Sakura laughed.

She couldn't see Kero, but she already knew that was shaking his head at her and her laid back attitude towards the company. Sakura's father and Kero had been old friends, and Kero trusted Sakura enough to hand over the long lasting company that was his own father's legacy, Clow Corporation. Sakura really appreciated what Kero had done for her, and decided to help anyway she could. Eventually Kero had decided he was going to give Sakura the Clow Corporations when he retired. Sakura acted relaxed towards the company, but in reality she always got her work done, and was never late. She hung up the phone with Kero and made her way back into her room to pick out her outfit for the day. She decided to go with a grey pencil skirt, a white and grey long sleeve sweater with low heeled silver shoes.

A knock at her door made her jump in surprise and she went to answer it. Waiting behind the door was the chauffeur sent by Kero to make she would make it on time. Grabbing a muffin, her purse, the files she needed and her travel sized brush she left her apartment. "Thanks for picking me up every day, Yukito." She said to the silver haired man.

He smiled at her, "It's really no problem Sakura." He put the car into gear and pulled away from the apartment building. Sakura didn't take much notice to the world around her as she brushed her hair and put the bush into her purse when she was satisfied. She kept her hair short so that it was easy to maintain on mornings like today. She began eating her muffin while looking over the client files for the meeting. Clow Corporations was beginning a take-over of a smaller business that had been looking for better business. It was up to Sakura to strike the deal that would benefit them as well as Clow.

When they pulled up to the head office, she said her thanks to Yukito again before getting out with her purse and files finishing her muffin. She made her way into the building and up to the conference room where she would be just on time as the clock struck nine. It was one of her many talents to be perfectly on time. When she entered the room all eyes were on her. She walked to the head of the table and dropped her things. "Good morning gentlemen, thank you for coming here today."

It was just a typical Sakura Kinomoto morning.

* * *

"Well aren't they lively this morning," said a voice from her chair. Sakura sighed to see her close friend Chiharu sitting in her chair with her feet on the desk. They had been friends since Sakura came as an intern when she first started out.

"They all just want either promotions, raises or to get in my good graces for when I take over… it's not like I'm going to fire every single person here. I wish they wouldn't treat me like I'm some sort of princess here." Sakura sighed and she dropped her purse and files onto her desk. Chiharu got up from the chair, giving Sakura a place to sit. Chiharu knew the real Sakura, not the business Sakura that everyone else was used to. She was an honest girl who thanked the world every day for what she had. Chiharu has never met anyone quite like her.

Chiharu leaned on the glass desk and looked at the exhausted girl sitting in her leather chair with her eyes closed. "Let me guess, you stayed up all night last night working on that proposal that you has already finalized last week, _just_ to be sure that it was all right. Then this morning you woke up to have Mr. Reed calling you to remind you about the meeting." A smile graced Sakura's lips as she slowly nodded.

"I just wanted to make sure that everything in place. Kero would have killed me if I didn't get this deal…" Sakura trailed off as she yawned.

"You know that's not true. He wouldn't blame you at all, it would be you who would be beating yourself up over it… and isn't it a bit unprofessional for you to be so casual with him while working? I mean I know he's kind of your guardian, but you could at least call him Keroberos…"

"I know… and he tells me that all the time, but it just feels strange to call him anything other than Kero." Sakura sighed as she got up from her relaxed position to turn on her computer and sign in. "Speaking of unprofessional, I could say the same thing about you sitting in my office with your feet on my desk." She said laughing. Sakura really didn't mind that Chiharu came to visit her, but she still had to nag her about it.

Chiharu laughed as she pushed herself off the desk and began walking towards the door. "Well then I'll head back to my desk to work on boring reports about things that I couldn't really give two shits about."

"Come on Chiharu, you're the head of HR, you could at least pretend to like what you do, and watch your language at work." Sakura laughed as her door closed.

She loved where she worked and the people that she worked with. Clow Corporations meant everything to her. She quickly logged into her computer and began working away at the emails that were waiting for her. Several of them had been from Kero that she had already gotten on her phone last night about the meeting this morning. She quickly deleted them and found one from him from this morning.

_Good Morning Sakura,_

_I got confirmation from Ruby about the success at the meeting today. Once again, I'm very proud of you for working so hard for this company. I won't be coming in today, but I know that everything is in good hands._

_Now to drop all formalities, I wanted to tell you that I want you to come over for dinner tonight, and you can make some of that delicious food that you know I love. Your dad called me last night as well and asked how you were doing. He's going to call again tonight while you're over since he knows he won't be distracting you from your work while you're with me._

_Anyway, have a nice day and don't work yourself too hard_

_Kero_

Sakura smiled at the informality of the email and closed it moving onto the daily chores. She sighed at the amount of emails from Chiharu that had nothing to do with actual work, and deleted them, knowing that they were all just her complaining about how Takashi wouldn't leave her office. The man was so in love with her but she refused to open her eyes and see it.

The email that _had_ caught her eye was from a foreign email address. She opened it and began to read the contents. It talked about its company representatives coming to Japan to talk about possible company expansion in the area and waiting to work with Clow Corporations. Sakura wasn't sure how to react to the email, since it wasn't really under her department to discuss foreign company possibilities. She forwarded the email to Kero, wanting him to deal with that. It wasn't that Sakura didn't want to; it was that she wasn't sure what Kero would want to do. He was very skeptical about foreign companies, because it would only affect a branch of their company rather than their entire company like Japan based companies would.

The rest of the day began to blur together as she answered emails, phone calls and working on spreadsheets. Finally the clock struck five and she began to pack up her things when her phone began to buzz. She picked up the phone and saw the name on the screen. "Nice timing, Tomoyo." Sakura smiled.

"You know me; it's just a sixth sense to call at the best times." Tomoyo laughed on the phone side of the phone. "Are you busy tonight?"

"Yeah, Kero emailed me and asked me to go over tonight for dinner. My dad will be calling too. The man is always so worried to call me and distract me from anything that has to do with Clow Corporations business." Sakura sighed as she picked up her purse and turned off the lights to her office. Everyone was beginning to shut down their computers as well and leave. A few people waved to her as she left, and only a couple actually came up to her and said goodbye.

"Well then since tomorrow is Friday night, why don't we go out for a drink or something? You, me, Chiharu, Rika and Naoko haven't gone out in a long time, so I think it's about time that we did, don't you think?" Tomoyo asked.

Sakura got into the car and Yukito closed the door behind her. "That sounds like a lot of fun. I'll stop by your apartment tomorrow to get ready. I'll see you later." Sakura said as she hung up the phone. She turned to Yukito who was focused on the road.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked half joking. Sakura smiled and sat back down in her seat and looked out at the road and traffic in front of them.

"No, I was just thinking about the day when Kero told me that I could come with him to Tokyo, and how you offered to come with me. You know Touya was sad that you left." She sighed as she leaned her face into the palm of her hand. She had known since she was young that Touya and Yukito were a little more than friends, and only when she had confessed to Yukito when she was thirteen about loving him, that she realized her crush on him was no match for his already serious relationship with her brother.

"I knew that you would want someone you knew with in a city full of strange faces. I know Tomoyo was already here, but I think of you as a little sister too. I still visit Touya when I can, but he thanks me every time I'm there for coming with you." The car turned onto a more high class street with expensive high rise condos, and over priced apartments.

Sakura nodded, understanding what he meant. Touya had always called her a monster or a little demon when she was young, but as they both grew up they slowly actually became civil. He started treating her more like a woman than just a brat. In the end it had been him that told her to go with Kero, since he knew that she wasn't going to have another chance like it. Sakura always thanked her brother for pushing her to do it. When she turned her head she noticed that they were pulling up to Kero's apartment building. Yukito got out and opened the door for her. Got out and hugged him, something that she wasn't able to do at the office, and made her way inside. She turned to wave goodbye just in time for him to pull away and head back to his own apartment. She had offered to live with him, saving them both money, but he insisted that she needed her space as a young woman.

The man at the front desk smiled at her, remembering her from every other time she had visited Kero, and opened the door for her to enter. The inside lobby was beautiful, with large chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, and casted a glow onto the floor. Plush couches were off to the side for people to wait for someone to come down, or for a car to pick them up. Her heels clicked on the marble floor as she walked across the room to the elevators. It dinged when it reached the ground floor, and she stepped inside. Sakura pressed the penthouse button, and the elevator came to life and brought her towards Kero's apartment.

Kero was waiting for her on the top floor, and she was welcomed into a warm embrace when she entered his apartment. He had been like a second father to her when she was young, and even more now that he was her guardian while she was in Tokyo. "Glad you could make it, Sakura." He said as he pulled away from the hug. His golden hair was messy since he hadn't gone to the office, and his blue eyes were slanted because of his warm smile that she knew so well.

She made her way into the large apartment, or rather penthouse. The hallway they had been standing in led to the large, spacious apartment. On the left side was the kitchen that had a modern feel to it, with black marble counters and stainless steel appliances. The kitchen flowed in the living room which took up the main part of the room, with leather and cotton couches. To the left were the stairs to the upper level; Kero's room. The most breath taking part of the entire apartment that got her every time was the view. The back wall was reinforced glass that let you see all the way to the glowing Tokyo tower. Sakura flopped onto the black leather couch and kicked off her constricting heels. Kero laughed as he went to the kitchen and got two glasses and a bottle of wine.

Sakura rolled onto her side and swung her legs down so that she could sit up and make room for Kero to sit beside her. He took his place and poured her a glass of wine. "Cheers to your successful proposal today." Kero said as their glasses clinked together.

The two sat for hours talking, and slowly drinking wine. Eventually her dad called and she was able to talk to him for the first time in months. Kero smiled as he saw the girl talk to her father. He sometimes forgot that he wasn't Sakura's real father, and it made him sad whenever he realized this. He has never had any kids and always thought of Sakura as his own. Touya had never really warmed up to him the same as Sakura, it's not that he hated him; it was just that he wanted to feel like he was a tough man. Sakura finished talking to her dad and handed the phone back to Kero. It was late and Sakura hadn't even had the chance to cook their dinner yet.

"I can start cooking now if you want. I know that if I don't you probably won't eat for the rest of the night." Sakura said as she headed to the kitchen. She rolled up her sleeves and began pulling out ingredients.

Kero walked towards the kitchen and put his hand on her shoulder, "You should head home, it's getting late and we both have to go into the office tomorrow. I'll drive you home."

Sakura was about to protest when Kero began walking to get his coat and keys. She followed his example and grabbed the shoes she had kicked off when she came in. They headed for the elevator and made their way back to her apartment.

Kero watched as she got out of the car when they arrived back at her building. Her small frame turned to wave to him as he drove off. While he was driving back to his own apartment, his phone began to buzz. He quickly turned on his Bluetooth and answered the call. "Good evening, Keroberos Clow," he answered.

"Good evening, I'm calling in response to the email you replied to earlier this afternoon. The meeting will be on Monday, giving our representatives time to settle in this weekend. I wanted to thank you personally for allowing us to meet with you, Mr. Clow." The voice answered from Bluetooth. He wasn't too sure it was a good idea to meet with this company but he knew that he should at least give them a chance.

Kero kept his business tone together as he smiled, thinking of his "daughter" being able to do this one day when she took over, "I look forward to discussing possible business with Li Corporations."

* * *

_HI GUYS! Thanks for reading the first chapter of __**Vices Versus Virtues**__. I hope it wasn't too boring. I know first chapters of this kind of stuff aren't always too busy, but I hope things start to pick up a bit and you guys enjoy it! Please review and let me know what you think! I'll be releasing the next chapter soon hopefully. If anyone has any sort of recommendations, towards either improving or where you think this story should go, then please let me know!_

_P.S: Yes the name of this fanfiction is based off of the Panic! At the Disco album, and this is because A) It fits what I want to do with this story, and B)I was listening to the album while writing this chapter and got the idea_

_*~Ciara_


	2. Chapter 2- Night on the Town

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she's ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_A.N: Hello again! I promise this chapter will be more interesting than the last. Last chapter I just had to kind of set up who Sakura was and her surroundings, but now I can play with it a bit and add some drama to her seemingly peaceful life ;) _

_ENJOY!_

_Chapter 2- Night on the Town_

"Have a good night Miss Kinomoto!" A worker called as the elevator door closed. Sakura sighed as she relaxed against the back of the small metal room. The metal was cold on the back of her head, relieving some stress from the day. Kero had her working on meeting agendas and booking meetings all day long. He would have helped her, but he said that he had agreed to meet with the foreign client. Sakura was shocked that he had actually agreed to meet with them. In reality it just meant more work for both of them. The golden decorated metal doors opened as it came to a stop on the main floor. Sakura quickly composed herself and headed for the door, where Yukito would have normally been waiting for her, but today was different. Instead of acting like the cool and composed company heir she was seen as, she ran and smothered her friend waiting for her into a hug.

"You know that everyone is staring at us, right Sakura?" Tomoyo said as she returned the hug. Really neither of them cared what the onlookers thought of them. The two had been friends since elementary school and hadn't seen each other in weeks; it was a big deal for them.

Sakura slowly pulled away from her squeezing embrace with her best friend and smiled at her, "I'm off the clock, so I really don't care how they see me right now." With that she hugged Tomoyo once more before the two made their way through the large glass doors. The two walked, arms linked together as they talked about how great the other looked.

Tomoyo had always been beautiful with her long wavy black hair and purple-grey eyes. Sakura has always been jealous of her fair skin and award winning smile. Although the girl was downright gorgeous, she hadn't dated anyone since high school. She swore that she was going to be, what she called a "cock-block" until she could get settled as a fashion designer in Tokyo. Since her dream was becoming a reality faster than she had thought, she had started to want to go out again. Sakura got in on the passenger side of the sleek black Camaro. Tomoyo had bought the car wanting to look the part of a classy designer, with its retractable roof and black tinted windows. The engine roared to life, and the two drove off back to Tomoyo's apartment to get ready for their night out.

"So how was your little family dinner with Kero last night?" Tomoyo asked as they pulled up to a red light. Tomoyo had also known Kero since she was young since she had been there many times when Kero was visiting.

"It wasn't much of a dinner," Sakura laughed and she turned to look out the window at the people walking on the sidewalk. "We basically sat, talked and drank wine all night. I got to talk to my dad at least. He promised he would try calling more, and even get Touya to come with him to visit sometime." Sakura liked the sound of having her brother and father visiting her. She could them stay at her place, but knowing Kero, he would insist that he had more room and get them to stay with him. Yukito would be happy if Touya came here, since Touya could stay with his boyfriend for the first time ever.

"That sounds like a fantastic evening either way," Tomoyo smiled as she accelerated as the light changed to green. "And now you'll have another great night out, only this time… no Kero watching how much you drink." Tomoyo laughed. Sakura laughed with her imagining Kero in a nightclub dancing and drinking. It just didn't seem like a natural picture.

They came to a stop in Tomoyo's apartment building's parking garage. Sakura never had to worry about paying the parking garage fee since Yukito insisted on driving her absolutely everywhere. Their heels echoed in the deserted garage and made their way to the extravagant elevator. Since Tomoyo made more than Sakura would actually like to know, she lived in one of the most prestigious apartment buildings in the area. The elevator came to life and slowly moved them up towards Tomoyo's apartment on the fifteenth floor. When they reached the fifth floor, the elevator's glass siding was exposed to the outside of the building, and a ray of neon lights filled the small room. It always made Sakura smile thinking about how small they really were when they bustled through the streets believing that what they were doing at that moment was the most important thing in the world. Sakura's thoughts were broken when the door dinged open, and Tomoyo made her way to her door. Each door was spaced far apart meaning that each apartment was huge inside. A twinge of jealousy came to Sakura's mind as she thought about how nice it would be to live in one of the high class apartments rather than her lower income one-bedroom apartment.

Tomoyo's keys clicked into place and they entered her mansion inside a mansion. The open concept apartment had dark brown floors that shined against the warm white lights. To the right was the classic-modern kitchen with white cupboards and steel fixtures. Sakura dropped her purse onto the island leading to the large apartment decorated with some of Tomoyo's designs and pictures of her with some of her models. The picture that stood out to Sakura was the one of the two of them in elementary school at their school's sport's day festival. Their feet were bound together for the three-legged race, and they both had smiles on their faces even though they both knew that they probably weren't going to win. Tomoyo wasn't as athletic as Sakura, but Sakura still chose to be her partner anyways. Sakura's appearance hadn't changed much except her face had been slightly pudgier than now and her hair had been slightly longer back then.

Tomoyo came up behind Sakura and put her hand on her shoulder making Sakura jump slightly. Tomoyo smiled, "Come on, let's get a glass of wine and go pick out what we're going to wear." She said pulling Sakura towards her room. Tomoyo had already gotten the wine, and began opening her large walk-in closet. Sakura took that as a sign that she should jump on Tomoyo's king sized bed. Her body melded with the soft fluffy comforters and soft memory foam mattress; if she had it her way, she would have just stayed like that all night. Tomoyo came back holding up several club dresses that she had bought on her trip to Paris. "What do you think of this one?" She said holding up a purple halter dress with a ring to attach the strings. If she had put on the dress, it would have come up slightly above the knee. It was a beautiful dress, but didn't fit Sakura.

"I think it would look great on you, Tomo" Sakura said as she rolled towards the wine. She took a quick sip and placed the glass back down on the side-table.

"I want to find something for you first, since I know you're impossible to agree to something." Tomoyo said as she tossed the dress onto the bed next to Sakura. The next dress was a white form fitting dress with slit down the side where the wait would be. "I think this would look amazing on you." She said offereing it to Sakura. She shook her head again and Tomoyo sighed and tossed it with the purple one. "How about a skirt and a shirt?"

Sakura shrugged and took another sip of the wine. Tomoyo retreated back into the abyss of clothing that was her closet. It wasn't an easy task for Sakura to fall in love with an outfit, and most days she would just slap some sort of business outfit for work and hoped it looked alright. She followed her friend into the back of the closet to help her find something. Tomoyo was slipping through clothes on hangers and would look back to drawers that were open that were overflowing with more clothing. Sakura wasn't entirely sure what she did with all of this clothing, but began her own search. A red shirt caught Sakura's eye and she pulled it out of the pile to take another look at it. It was a short sleeve shirt with a low cut neckline, and was stretchy, which Sakura assumed meant it was very form fitting. "Hey Tomo, I think you should wear this!" She called.

Tomoyo appeared from behind a rack of clothing and came to inspect what her friend had found. She looked it over, trying to think of something to wear with it. An idea clicked into her head and she ran to find one of her denim skirts. When she came back and help it up to the top, she decided she was satisfied with her choice, and went to put it on her bed. "So there's my outfit, but what about you Sakura?"

Sakura looked back down at the pile of clothing she had found the shirt in and saw something pink sticking out. She leaned down and pulled it out to take a look at it. She had always loved the colour pink, despite how girly it seemed. This however, was not at all what she thought it would have been. It had turned out to be a dress, although not really looking like one at first glance. She discovered that it had actually been a dress with a low neckline that ruched together. The back of the dress wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for the lace that replaced an actual back. What really made Sakura rethink was how short the dress would come on her; Tomoyo was slightly smaller than her, but it still would at least cover her butt. She was about to throw it back into the pile when Tomoyo came into the closet and immediately fell in love with the idea of Sakura wearing it. "You _have_ to wear that!"

"I don't know… it's kind of… revealing." Sakura said as she tried to put it down again. Tomoyo stopped her and snatched it away from her.

"Sakura, we're going out clubbing for the first time in _forever!_ Wearing something a little revealing is all in the fun of it. And who knows, you might meet a cute guy who just loves your cute little butt in that dress." Sakura was about to protest when Tomoyo disappeared out of the closet back into her room. She honestly knew there was no winning against the girl, so she silently gave in and accepted that she had sealed her fate by picking up that dress.

* * *

The music blared as Sakura and her group of friends entered the club. The bass pounded inside Sakura's chest, making her want to dance even though she knew she really couldn't. Her and her friends made their way to a table on the far side of the room where they took a seat and placed their clutch purses on the table. "So who wants a drink?" Chiharu yelled over the music. All of the girls agreed, even though no one could really hear what they were saying. Chiharu turned to face Sakura, "Please tell me that you're not thinking of not drinking tonight…"

"I just… I don't really want to get smashed tonight." Sakura said leaning towards Chiharu. Chiharu scoffed at the idea and said that she would buy Sakura a drink anyway. Sakura knew she had no real control over that, since Chiharu was always telling her to loosen up a bit. Sakura noticed Tomoyo's look in her eye, the one saying she wanted to dance. Being the good friend that she was, she help out her hand and motioned to the dance floor. Tomoyo's smile grew instantly, and took Sakura by the hand and dragged her out into the sea of people.

As they got onto the dance floor, the song changed and the two girls fell into the ecstasy of having a good time and simply dancing. Sakura knew she wasn't very good at dancing, but for some reason she really didn't mind all that much. Tomoyo smiled at her and began to mouth lyrics that Sakura didn't know, and she just laughed and kept dancing. It wasn't until she felt hands touch her waist that she began to take notice of her surroundings. She turned to find the owner of the hands now invading her personal space. The man was tall with dark hair and his breath smelled like stale alcohol. Not wanting his dirty hands on her, she took a hold of his wrists and forced them off of her. He looked slightly disappointed by her actions, and turned his hands in her grasp to take a hold of her wrists. Now stuck in the hands of this filthy man, she couldn't help but shiver in disgust, "Let go of me," She said still trying to get away, "I took your hands off of me because I would like you to leave me alone. Can't you take a hint?" She put on her business strength to show that she wasn't a weak girl, when deep down she knew she was.

"Ah come on babe, you wore the sexiest dress I've ever seen and you can't expect me to keep my hands to myself." He tried to come close to her face but she twisted her head so he wouldn't try to kiss her. She noticed the look on Tomoyo's face, the face of someone lost. She wasn't sure what to do either, seeing as the guy wasn't taking a hint, but didn't want him to target her either. Sakura wouldn't have let her step in either way. Tomoyo was strong willed, but couldn't really be taken seriously with her doll-like face.

The strange man twisted her arms so that she would wretch and twist her face for him to see once more. The people around them began to notice the girl's discomfort, but like Tomoyo, wasn't sure how to handle him. She opened her squinting eyes and saw how close he really was to her. She prepared to be assaulted by his lips against her will but it never came. She felt the man release his grip on her wrists and heard something that sounded like a groan of pain. When she opened her eyes again, she noticed the man was now being subtly hurt by a new stranger. The drunken man slowly backed away into the crows and headed for what Sakura thought was the direction of the bar. She looked down anther wrists and began to rub the sore, red area where he had held her. She looked up again to see that she was now face to face to with a new stranger. He looked down at her and smiled, "Looks like he had just a little too much to drink." He tried to joke.

Sakura smiled back at him at his attempt to cheer her up. "Thank you… really, I don't want to know what would have happened if you didn't step in." A look of what Sakura thought was surprise quickly washed over his chocolate brown eyes, but composed himself again.

"Well I don't think anyone else quite knew how to handle him, so no thanks necessary." He extended his hand like a gentleman, unlike the man from before. "My name is… Eriol Hiiragizawa, it's nice to meet you Miss…?"

Sakura extended her own hand to shake it. It was something she was now used to because of the business world, but otherwise would have been considered strange to Japan. "Sakura Kinomoto, you don't need to call me Miss, Sakura is fine."

He smiled again at her and pulled his hand back after their introductions. He was about to speak again when Tomoyo stepped in and jumped onto Sakura. "I'm so sorry, Sakura!" She squeezed her friend and looked up at her friend's saviour. Sakura could hear and feel Tomoyo suppressing a giggle, "Anyway, I'm going back to the table. Why don't you go get a drink since you haven't had one yet?" Tomoyo smiled. She waved to Sakura before heading in the opposite direction to them. The direction she left to was nowhere near their table.

"Well if you haven't had a drink yet, I'll buy you one." Eriol offered.

"No, I couldn't. You just saved me, so the least I could do would be to buy _you_ a drink." Sakura bowed. She wasn't entirely sure why she bowed to him, but she could faintly hear a chuckle from him over the loud music.

"I told you that you didn't need to thank me. I've never had a girl buy me a drink before, and it would be kind of rude if I made you be the first one." His smile was genuine, and he took her by the hand as he led her towards the bar. Sakura tripped slightly over someone who stuck out their foot while dancing and stumbled forward. Eriol extended his arm to catch her as she fell. He smiled down at her and put her back onto her feet. He led her towards the bar again and gave her the empty seat for her to sit. She noticed the man from before a few seats down, and apparently Eriol did too. He placed his hands on either side of Sakura on the bar, leaving his chest pressing into her back. She could feel her heart beat faster. She mentally slapped herself for the reaction she was having for a man that she had just met. "So what would you like to drink?" He asked.

His breath sent shivers down Sakura's spine. "I uh… um… rum and coke is fine." She stuttered. She prayed that he didn't notice how nervous he was making her. He showed no signs of noticing as he smiled and signaled the bartender to make a rum and coke for her and grab a tap beer for him, not caring what kind. It didn't take long for their drinks to come back to them, and a seat freed up beside her, so he took a seat next to her and began sipping away at his beer.

The two sat for what felt like hours talking, sometimes about nothing that made sense. This seemed to happen more and more as their drinks continued to disappear and be refilled by the ever ready bartender. Sakura found this new companion extremely entertaining, and laughed whenever he told a joke, even if it really wasn't that funny to begin with. A hand came down on Sakura's back and she sloppily turned to see that the owner was none other than Tomoyo, "Sakura, the girls and I are ready to go… how much did you drink?"

Sakura giggled like an idiot when she saw Tomoyo, and Tomoyo knew that she had had far too much. What surprised her though was that this guy hadn't tried to take advantage of Sakura while she was like that. Rika and Naoko helped Sakura up and she stumbled slightly but gained her balance again and flowed the girls out waving goodbye to Eriol who was slightly drunk but not as much as Sakura.

When they got out onto the street, Tomoyo was trying to hail a cab and Sakura was still stumbling slightly. In her drunken state, she realized she had forgotten her purse on the bar with Eriol. She tried to tell the girls but it came out in an idiotic mumble as she headed back inside.

The loud music was now welcoming to her, not like the first time she had entered the club. As she got close to the bar, she saw that Eriol was now talking to another guy that she hadn't seen before. Eriol seemed to notice her and handed her the bag that he had noticed she forgot. "Forget something?" He asked in a sarcastic tone.

Sakura smiled at him again, and took hold of the purse. Her conscience told her to thank him and leave, but the side of her that was now possessed by alcohol was screaming to her about how attractive he was. Giving into her temptation, she leaned in and captured his lips. She closed her eyes hoping that he would react to her kiss.

At first it was simply shock that washed over him, but after a moment, he closed his eyes and kissed the girl back. His hands worked their way up to cup her face and slide to the back of her neck and up into her hair. Sakura moaned slightly as he deepened the kiss when his tongue licked her lips asking for entrance. In her haze she opened her mouth and welcomed him by caressing his tongue with her own. She moaned again wanting more; more of the kiss, more of him. The part of her mind that was still working was mentally kicking the crap out of her for kissing him, but still couldn't deny how good it really felt.

After another minute the two broke away to breathe. Sakura could feel her face was flushed red, and immediately realized what she had just done. Her face grew an even brighter shade of red as she ran for the exit to find her friends outside. She felt completely stupid for making out with a guy she had just met that night. Her side of reason was screaming at her that she was so going to regret it when she sobered up in the morning, but that same side still couldn't deny how his touch really affected her.

* * *

_Well there you have it! I hope this chapter was a little more interesting than the last. Please review and let me know what you think! _

_Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, and I hope that you will continue to review and critique me on anything. Eventually I will come back and edit all of the chapters, but any recommendations for future chapters are always welcome  
_

_littlepuppylost: Thanks so much for the review! I hope that you can get a little more insight on some of the personalities now! Thank you so much for being my first reviewer!  
_

_newstar: Thank you!  
_

_Just a little bit of magic: I'm so glad that you liked Sakura! I was worried people might think my take on her was a little bland or boring, but hearing positive comments like that is really encouraging. If you have any suggestions on other characters either, please let me know :)  
_

_randomsam123: I know what you mean. I've read a few and some of them are alright, but some are just way to boring. I plan to show a little bit of both sides, business and their fun side of life, since let's be honest... life isn't all just business. I'm really glad that you've enjoyed it so far. Next chapter will have a little more business in it, but if you have any suggestions on how to make sure that this doesn't turn into a boring business fic, then message me or review anytime!  
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_Fashion Fairy 26: Thank you for the review! I hope this was a good chapter :)  
_

_I'll try and update again soon. For now, I wish you all a farewell _

_*~Ciara_


	3. Chapter 3- Blank Pages

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she's ever had, and working towards taking over Clow Corporations. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

**_A.N: Heey Guys! I tried so hard to update sooner but school is a pain in the ass, my sister got married, my birthday was last week and my sister just left to go back to Tennessee... so it was kind hectic around here ^^;  
_**

_**So here's Chapter 3, some questions will be answered from last chapter and some twists that I hope you enjoy!**  
_

_Chapter 3- Blank Pages_

Traffic buzzed in the streets below full of people desperate to go somewhere. At this point, Sakura wished that they would all just disappear, just like her massive migraine pulsing in the back on her head. She didn't quite remember everything from the night before, and wasn't sure if she really wanted to. Something in the pit of her stomach told her that she would regret it if she remembered, but that also could have been the bile building up that she was ready to empty into the toilet. She groaned as she looked at the clock on her nightstand beside her. The bright red lights read noon, later than Sakura had hoped she would sleep in. She was about to go back to sleep when the feeling in the pit of her stomach began making its way up her throat. Throwing off the covers she ran for the bathroom and emptied her stomach into the porcelain bowl.

Sakura was sure she was going to pass out with her head in the toilet when she could hear her phone ringing from back under the covers. She wiped her mouth, although it really didn't do much for the bad taste that was still lingering in her mouth, and walked into her room. The shrill ringing made her head pulse even more, and she answered the phone without looking at who it was that had called her. "Hello?" She croaked. Her voice was far hoarser than she had expected it to b. She cleared her throat, "Hello?" She tried again. This time her words were slightly more understandable.

"I see you went out last night."The deep voice said. Immediately Sakura knew that it was Kero and she mentally slapped herself for not checking who it was. Kero wasn't a huge fan of partying, very similar to Sakura, and when she did he often made comments about it. "Was it Tomoyo and the girls that dragged you out? I know you're not that much of a party girl, so I'm surprised to hear you with a hangover."

Sakura let out a small chuckle, "Yeah, they said we hadn't done anything together in a long time so they wanted to go out. I didn't think I drank that much, but apparently it's been a while since I drank like that." Sakura knew that she had had far too many drinks, but she didn't want to worry Kero. He always thought of what was best for her, but sometimes came across too strongly. She had learned to selectively tell him things that would avoid a scolding.

"Well if you aren't hurting too much I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to Tomoeda for the day. Your dad invited me to come see the renovations, and since I'm going, I thought you might want to see your dad." Sakura thought about the offer. It _had_ been a long time since she'd gone home, but wasn't sure her dad would want to see her in the state she was in. "I can just tell him that you weren't feeling well. Don't worry, I won't tell him about you partying. I know he's a lot worse than I am when it comes to your safety, so just get better."

Sakura was about to respond when she heard Kero's side go dead. Sakura smiled as she tossed her phone back onto the bed. He was always looking out for her, and she appreciated it every day. Sometimes she felt like she couldn't do enough to return the favour, because he continued to help her no matter what. Her thoughts began to meld together as she curled back up into her bed, deciding sleep would be the best option. Sleep first; mouth wash and brushing teeth came later.

* * *

Monday morning rolled around and Sakura made her way around her apartment in her usual way. Deciding on black dress pants, a pink dress shirt with a black blazer and black opened-toed heels, she made her way to her front door where Yukito had raised his hand to knock on the door. He smiled at her and closed her door behind her while she grabbed her keys to lock the door. Once she checked the door, they made their way down to the car.

Sakura could see that Yukito was happier than usual, guessing that he had gone with Kero to Tomoeda so he could see Touya. "Have fun with Touya this weekend?" Sakura asked as she poked him in the side.

He smiled back at her and nodded. She could only imagine her brother's face when he saw Yukito waiting at the door for him. He would have been as happy as a school kid, but try to mask it under his ever "cool" façade. Sakura and Yukito knew that it was all just an act, and could tell when he was truly happy or excited.

The door dinged as it opened and the two made their way to the car. "How about you, Sakura? What did you get up to on the weekend?" Yukito asked as he opened the glass door for her. The wind blew and made her shiver.

She was about to answer when something tickled in the back of her mind. The shiver had reminded her of something but she couldn't quite remember. "I went out with Tomoyo, Rika, Naoko and Chiharu on Friday night." Sakura said as she stepped into the car. She could see lines forming on Yukito's head as he thought about Sakura out in nightclubs. It wasn't until he got in on the driver's side that Sakura could see his disbelief. "We went out dancing and I had a bit to drink, it wasn't anything exciting." She could feel her stomach begin to flutter as her conscience told her that she was lying. She couldn't tell Yukito though, because he would tell Kero, and Kero would know that she had lied to him. Before Yukito could open his mouth to respond, she decided it would be safest to change the subject, "It's really getting cold out now; I'm going to need to buy a winter jacket soon."

Sakura knew that Yukito knew she was trying to change the subject, and sighed as the engine came to life and pulled away from the building. Morning traffic to the office was the same as it always was. Sakura leaned towards her window and watched cars drive in a rush, and people running to catch buses or get trains. Before she knew it, they were at the front doors of the main building. She quickly composed herself into her business attitude and made her way into the building giving a small wave to Yukito who began to drive off.

All eyes turned to her when she walked in. Three of the main desk people began talking to her at once. "Take a deep breath… now one at a time, tell me what you're rambling about."

The one in the middle spoke up first, "The meeting has already started and Mr. Clow is waiting for you upstairs in conference room 1. Secondly, there are five new calls for you from a Miss Tomoyo Daidouji. And thirdly… um…" She had to think for a moment to remember her third point, but the other two interjected in and said that was it. Sakura nodded and made her way to the elevator, hoping to not be too late to the meeting.

Her heels clicked on the shining marble floor as she casually walked into the conference room. Everyone stood up, including Kero, as she walked in. She bowed in their general direction, "I apologize for being late, gentlemen…" When Sakura raised her head, she noticed one woman near the end of the table, "And women." She said. The girl looked at Sakura and nodded in appreciation. Women weren't always acknowledged in large company meetings, Sakura knew from experience. She walked around the table and they all sat down as she did. She took her place next to Kero who sat at the head, and an older man with grey hair and glasses. He sat up very straight and looked very proper. She assumed he was the man they were doing business with, and silently turned to Kero.

Kero gave Sakura a warm smile before continuing their conversation, "now that we're all here we can officially get started." He leaned back in his chair and turned to the man with midnight blue hair. He fixed his glasses and sat forward. He looked around the same age as Sakura, but carried an aura about his that Sakura found strangely familiar to Kero.

"Thank you for meeting with us today Mr. Clow, Miss Kinomoto." He smiled at Sakura. His smile would have seemed warm and welcoming, but something behind his smile made it seem like he knew something more, making Sakura feel nervous. Sakura only nodded back to him, not wanting to show weakness. "Today we're here to discuss future business between Clow Corporations and Li Corporations. This can work both ways, we can assist you to expend into mainland Asia as you help us expand in Japan."

"That's all very good, but why do you want to expand to Japan? You control most of China and have begun take over business in South Korea, how can we assure that if you come to Japan that we won't feel that same hit to our company as China and South Korea?" Kero said sitting forward. Sakura began to write down the things they were saying. She honestly didn't know much about Li Corporations, and had been planning on researching it more over the weekend, but her hangover had put a damper on those plans.

"That's what we're here to discuss, Mr. Clow." The woman spoke up. It took Sakura by surprise that she was beginning to take control of the conversation. Sakura had only managed to do that after building up her reputation within Clow Corporations. "You see, our business in South Korea has been growing but we now have a lot of competition over there because we didn't work out deals and such. Now that we have planned to move to Japan as well, we would like to make arrangements with you so that you won't have to feel as though you have to compete with us and vice versa." Her ruby eyes were dead set on Kero, but slowly moved to Sakura when she noticed the amazement in her eyes. The black-haired beauty smiled to her, almost encouraging her to speak.

Sakura took the challenge and decided to speak up, if she wanted to show she wasn't a push over to these people then now was the time, "Clow Corporations has grown strong as one of the most respected and most prestigious companies in Japan, if you were to expand into Japan, you would be a rival even without selling the same products or trying to steal customers; it's not that our business would be challenged, but our reputation." Kero smiled at her for her intelligent comment. The black-haired woman also seemed to approve of her comment.

"That's not our intention, Miss Kinomoto. When we become partners in Japan, any recognition we have will be bested by your own because of your already high ranking in Japan." The young man said smiling at her.

Sakura looked to Kero for guidance and could tell that he grew tired of the arguments as his eyes glazed over. He took the moment of brief silence to break the conversation to thank them for the consideration and that Clow Corporations would be happy to agree, and that the agreement can be worked out on a later date while Mr. Li was present. This comment caught Sakura off guard. She had thought that the older man that was beside her had been Mr. Li. The midnight-haired man approached her to bow in the traditional Japanese fashion. "I apologize for not introducing myself earlier; I can see your confusion. My name is Eriol Hiiragizawa."

Sakura was sure her heart had stopped. Images from her hazed mind came forward from the Friday night out. The chocolate brown eyes of the man that she had attacked with her lips came to mind, and instantly her face flushed red. "P-pardon? Your n-name is E-Eriol Hiiragizawa?"

Something in his face changed just for a second, and nodded. "And my female associate is Meiling Li, and the older gentleman is Wei Wang. I look forward to doing future business with you, Miss Kinomoto." The group of three exited the conference room and made their way to the elevator. Sakura looked to Kero and was about to say something, but instantly broke into a sprint to catch up with this Eriol Hiiragizawa. She could hear Kero calling her, but she needed answer. Nothing made sense to her when she thought about Friday night, and how the man had used that exact same name. It didn't seem like a coincidence.

She could see the group waiting for the elevator, and began to run harder. She finally reached them just as the elevator began to open. Meiling looked at her in confusion, as was the entire office who had seen her running for the elevator. Eriol looked at her in confusion and was about to speak up when Sakura finally caught her breath enough to speak. "Your… your name… someone I met used the same name…"

Eriol turned to Meiling, and gave her a look. Sakura could tell that they were silently speaking to each other, and finally Meiling sighed and slapped her forehead. The action came as a surprise to Sakura, lost for words she let Eriol speak. "You must have heard them wrong, or it may be a common name. I trust you that we haven't met before, Miss Kinomoto. Thank you for letting me know." He smiled to her and made his way into the elevator. The last sight Sakura saw before the doors closed was Meiling taking out her phone and beginning to dial a number angrily, and Eriol sighing and muttering something that she couldn't hear.

* * *

As Meiling got into the limo, Wei closed the door behind her and made his way to the front seat to drive them back to the hotel they were staying at while they were in Japan. She turned to Eriol for answers but he was leaning forward holding the bridge of his nose. They both had the same thought when the girl Sakura Kinomoto had run after them down the hallway. She pulled out her phone and pressed redial. She had already tried four times, but there had been no answer. She crossed her legs and tapped her nails against the arm rest. She heard a click in the phone meaning it had been picked up. "Hello?" She asked. Eriol looked up, hopeful that she had finally gotten through.

"You would think that when I didn't pick up the first seven times you called that I wasn't up for talking to you right now…" a masculine voice came from the other end. Meiling knew that he had still been asleep but didn't care since it was nearly noon already.

"Well I really don't care if I just woke you up right now since you have some explaining to do." She said as she sat up straight. She could see Eriol sigh in relief that they had finally gotten through.

"What the hell do you want, Meiling? I already told you why I didn't want to go to that meeting today. I wasn't even needed there, you and-"

"That's not what you have to explain, Syaoran! What's with you and using Eriol's name whenever you go out to clubs and meet women!? You know that it only makes Eriol look bad and have to cover up your sorry ass." Meiling couldn't believe how stupid her cousin could be sometimes.

"What the hell? Where is this coming from, I haven't used Eriol's name since last time in Korea-"

"Bullshit Syaoran! I was just talking to Miss Kinomoto and she was thoroughly confused when Eriol went and introduced himself. She ran down the hallways for crying out loud!" She slammed her fist on the armrest. Eriol leaned over and took the phone from her hands before she could have the chance to throw it out the window.

"Miss Kinomoto thought that you were me when you met, so now that we were in a business environment and I wasn't the same person as the one she met at the club." Eriol explained. He tried to sound calmer than he actually was. In reality he was just as pissed as Meiling, since stunts like that could cost them the agreement with Clow Corporations. He knew that Keroberos was protective of Sakura Kinomoto, and messing with her could ruin their entire company reputation in Japan.

"Wait… Kinomoto? As in Sakura Kinomoto?" Syaoran asked slowly. By the sound of his voice, eriol knew that nothing good was about to come from his next question.

"What did you do to Sakura Kinomoto?"

"I didn't do anything to her! She was the one who came back and started making out with me. I mean I didn't stop her, but seriously, you can't blame me for that!" Eriol could hear the panic in his voice. He remembered the random girl that came and made out with Syaoran at the nightclub, but he didn't know that it had been Sakura Kinomoto. He had gone to the club to bring his friend back to their hotel so that he wouldn't do something stupid and had been surprised by the girl's sudden actions, but more so at Syaoran's reaction. There was something that Syaoran wasn't telling, but Eriol knew that he wouldn't tell him now.

"Wait… so that girl that kissed you was Sakura Kinomoto?" He tried not to explode, but he looked up at Meiling who looked like she was ready to kill her cousin at any moment. "If you had been listening to us talk about the meetings for the past week you would have known that _Kinomoto_ was a name to avoid flirting with."

He heard his long time friend sigh and flop over. He felt bad for him but at the same time wanted to smack him for being so stupid. Meiling didn't seem so forgiving towards him, "Syaoran you're a moron! If this deal with Clow Corporations falls through because of you I will personally kick your sorry ass!" She yelled trying to grab the phone from Eriol. He was too fast for her and switched the ear he held to phone to and kept her away from him with his now free arm.

"I'll talk to you when we get back to the hotel and we'll try and figure out what to do about the situation. You may want to hide from Meiling though… I think she's ready to kill you. See you when we get back." Eriol kept his goodbyes short before hanging up the phone and sliding it into his pockets.

Meiling groaned as she sat back in her seat. "You know that things won't be as smooth as we had hoped now, right?" She said as she turned to look out the window.

Eriol gave a slight smirk before turning to look in her direction, "Nothing ever goes smoothly when Syaoran gets involved. We'll just have to look out for him and Miss Kinomoto." He could see a smile grow on Meiling's face. The two watched the Japanese crowds moving outside as they made their way back to their hotel.

* * *

"It took you long enough to call me back!" Tomoyo yelled at Sakura. Sakura sat in her office with her head resting on the back of the chair. She felt so utterly embarrassed when she thought about how brashly she had acted when she had heard the name 'Eriol Hiiragizawa' again. Kero had given her a slight scolding when she got back to the conference room about how rude it was to ignore his calls and to run through the office after business partners. The more Sakura thought about it, the more she wanted to do it all over again.

"Sorry about that Tomo, I was in a meeting with Kero and some people from China. What was so urgent that you had to call me ten times since this morning?" Sakura laughed as she thought about Tomoyo pacing back and forth in her luxurious apartment trying to get a hold of Sakura.

"Because my mother wants to throw a banquet to celebrate our company going international! She just finished working out business plans to have a branch of Daidouji Fashions in Hong Kong! Can you believe it!?" Sakura could just picture her friend jumping up and down with excitement. It was honestly a huge step for them, and Sakura couldn't be happier for her.

"That's amazing Tomoyo, congratulations!" Sakura couldn't help but stand up and jump a bit herself.

"So, I want you to come! The banquet will be in about a week, so you know the drill, you come over here, we get all dressed up and then celebrate like high class women!" excitement welled in both girls as they began vigorously talking about their plans. It had been the distraction that Sakura had needed to get her mind off of the events from Friday and earlier that morning.

* * *

A lamp flew over Syaoran's head as he ducked behind the bed. The moment Meiling had walked into his room she began getting angrier and angrier at him. She was still pissed about the Sakura Kinomoto incident and thought the only way to get over it, would be to throw some things around, specifically at his head.

Eriol walked in from the hallway to find a Syaoran running around the room avoiding objects, and a Meiling finding more and more things to throw. Syaoran wouldn't have normally hid from Meiling, but ever since Eriol made him swear not to hurt Meiling, he couldn't do anything else but run when she got like this. She saw him run for Eriol and picked up a mug and tried to throw it at him, but the aim was slightly off and was heading for Eriol. Without even flinching, he raised his hand to catch the projectile mug. He sighed as he looked around the hotel room that now looked like a junkyard. He knew that it was going to come out of his pocket to pay for all the damage. "Are you done destroying the room now, Meiling?" Eriol asked with a smirk. She instantly lost all anger and became very afraid; afraid for her wallet.

"What took you so long?" Syaoran asked as he came forward. Now that the Meiling-rampage was over, he knew it was safe to come out safely. His appearance was a complete mess, which Eriol guessed was not that far off from when they had first arrived back at the hotel.

"I just got off the phone with the fashion branch of Li Corporations who just made a deal with a fast growing fashion company here in Japan called Daidouji Fashions and asked us to attend their banquet a week from now as honoured guests."

* * *

**_So I hope you guys are enjoying the chapters so far! I'm going to have Syaoran and Sakura meet again soon. So how many of you guessed that Syaoran had taken Eriol's name when they met? I was hoping that it wouldn't be too obvious, but you could probably guess. Anyway, I promise to try and not make everything super obvious from now on! _**

_**I know Syaoran is slightly OOC in this chapter, but I hope that didn't change your view on this Syaoran. If you guys have any suggestions, let me know!** _

_**Cesia14**: THANK YOU SOO MUCH FOR YOUR ADVICE! i hope that I did a little better on this chapter, but please let me know!  
_

_**deadflo**: Got your wish ;)  
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_**Fashion Fairy 26**: I think she remembered just because Tomoyo was hailing a cab, so she thought of money, then her purse, and then how it was still at the bar. Thanks for your continuous support in reviewing :)  
_

_*~Ciara_


	4. Chapter 4- Daidoji Banquet

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she's ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_A.N: Sorry for the delay! I don't have any real excuses for why I've been so late except for that I try to write the next chapter (in this case 5) before releasing this one. After what happened with my story "Where you Least Expect It" and the lousy planning with that, I decided on this method to see how it goes. So far it's been going well, but I will try and be faster from now on ^^  
_

_Chapter 4- Daidoji Banquet_

The mall seemed busier than normal; it was as though everyone knew that the Daidouji banquet was coming up and had to make shopping that much more difficult. Sakura had been waiting for Tomoyo to show up in the food court sipping the coffee that was meant to keep her awake. She couldn't understand the need to arrive at the mall so early to shop. Shopping never _actually_ took six hours; Tomoyo would just take forever in every store. Watching everyone walk by she had time to think, not that she didn't normally; but seeing other people with friends, boyfriends, families, husbands and wives, Sakura thought about her own life.

Sakura was in the prime of her life, early twenties, successful career, and yet that's all she ever really thought about or had time for. She wondered what it would have been like if she had stayed in Tomoeda instead of going to Tokyo with Kero. Would she have had a boyfriend? Would she have ended up working at one of the small town shops, or even at her old elementary school? Thinking about it only made her even more curious, but she knew that she wouldn't ever really know. She had told Kero that she would take over Clow Corporations, that's the least she could do for him after giving her a chance for a better future.

Hands covered Sakura's eyes, and she felt a smile tug at her face. "What took you so long, Tomoyo?" Sakura asked laughing. She turned around and smothered her best friend into a hug. Tomoyo just laughed and hugged her back.

"Sorry I'm late, traffic is insane and finding a parking space here was even harder." They finally pulled away from their hug and Sakura grabbed her purse as they headed towards the stores. "Since it's a Daidouji Fashions banquet, I was thinking we should wear something from our stores, what do you think?" Tomoyo asked as they rounded the corner.

Sakura dodged her way through the crowds towards the Daidouji Fashions store, "I think that's a great idea."

They reached the store and were happy to see the store wasn't as crowded as the halls had been. Tomoyo took Sakura by the hand and practically dragged her to the back of the store where the evening wear was. Immediately Tomoyo went to work in trying to find something for her friend to wear. Sakura sighed as she went searching through the dresses on another rack.

She laughed as she thought back to the Friday night they had gone out and the state the closet had been in after Tomoyo had torn through pulling out a million things to piece together for her. She had settled on the pink dress that had revealed more than she was used to, and had regretted it when she thought about the drunk man that had tried to take advantage of her. She immediately stilled when her saviour came to mind. He had called himself Eriol Hiiragizawa, but she had met the man with glasses who had also called himself Eriol. The name really wasn't that popular for her to have met probably the only two men in Japan with that exact name. Also the business Eriol had acted strangely when she had mentioned that she had met another Eriol Hiiragizawa. There was something that she was clearly missing. Besides her confusion about the two Eriols, she thought about the first one that she had met, and his reaction to when she had kissed him. Something electrical had passed between them that made it feel so right when it was just an alcohol induced action.

"Sakura, are you listening to me?" Tomoyo asked. Sakura finally came back to the present and found an angry Tomoyo in front of her. "I've been talking to you for the past ten minutes and you've just been standing there staring at the rack…"

"Sorry I was just a bit distracted… did you find something for you to wear?" Sakura asked quickly trying to recover from the memory that sent shivers up her spine.

Tomoyo gave her a scowl but dropped the subject, not wanting to fight before the banquet. "I was thinking the silver v-neck dress… what do you think?" Tomoyo asked as she pulled it off the rack

It was exactly how she described it. It was a silver colour with a small shimmer when it caught the lighting in the store. The neckline was low, but not too low that it would make the person wearing it look like they were trying too hard. The colour would look amazing on Tomoyo, and the slit in the side which ran up to knee-length would make her look even just a little taller than she was.

"It looks great Tomo! You'd look amazing in it."

Tomoyo smiled, "if you say so… I guess all that's left to do is to find accessories and stuff, but our next mission is to find you a dress!" She said bouncing back to the rack of dresses.

Sakura sighed and laughed at her friend's excitement about dressing her up. She knew that finding her dress probably would take up the next chunk of time, and knowing Tomoyo, Sakura wouldn't see another cup of coffee until they found everything they needed.

* * *

"I can just rent a tux or something; it's really not that big of a deal."

Syaoran sat on the plush hotel bed as Meiling flipped through her phone, trying to find someone to call to pick out some outfits for them for the banquet all the way from Hong Kong. He never really understood the whole girl obsession with outfits for special occasions; a rental tux looked just as nice as some of the ones he had in his own closet. Brand names just meant it cost more, but they all look the same.

Meiling looked back at Syaoran, her face looking utterly horrified. "How could you even think that! We're going to an elite party, and you want to _rent_ a tuxedo!? You're supposed to be the next head of the Li family, and you think that I would let you do that? Seriously, that would be so bad for our reputation here. Just trust me; Wei is already there to pick up a tux for both you and Eriol, and a dress for me while he's there."

Syaoran sighed, officially giving up on Meiling. He didn't get the huge hype with this party, but then again, he never really got into anything involving Li Corporations. He flopped onto his back and stared up at the white ceiling.

"I know you don't like these things, but at least pretend to be interested-" She was cut off by her phone chiming and quickly picked it up. "Meiling Li speaking." She answered in her well rehearsed business voice.

Syaoran just rolled off the bed and headed to the bathroom. He could hear Meiling talking, but couldn't hear what she was saying. Something told him it was Wei on his way back from Hong Kong. His whole trip was completely pointless; Syaoran was planning on skipping the banquet anyway.

He turned on the shower and stepped in, shivering at the warm water cascading down his chest. The last time he had shivered like that was at the club when the beauty had kissed him. _Sakura Kinomoto._ The name danced around in his mind. He couldn't deny she was really good looking, but he knew that he would never have the chance to sleep with her because of Meiling. His thoughts drifted to the possibility of sleeping with her; imagining what she would look like without the skin-tight pink dress he had seen her in.

"Syaoran, hurry up!" Meiling yelled from the other side of the bathroom door. He jumped at the sound of her voice breaking the daydream that had left him uncomfortable. He sighed as he turned the knob of the shower to cold to calm himself down.

"I'll be out in a minute, washing the conditioner out." He lied. He quickly washed his hair in the freezing water in case Mailing decided to check to see if he had been lying. His discomfort slowly faded as he shut off the water. He reached for the towel and wrapped his waist before opening the door. "Now what do you want, Mei?" he asked with a slightly annoyed tone.

She didn't even take any notice to her cousin in his half dressed form and gave him the dirtiest look she could muster. "Don't be an ass, Syaoran. The banquet is tomorrow and you're supposed to give a speech, I already wrote one for you because I know you're completely useless and would try and make it up on the spot. Miss Tomoyo Daidoji just called to ask for our confirmations, seeing as how _you_ didn't call her to let her know. She also said that a few other large corporations will be attending to show their support for Daidoji Fashions, but as well as for our expansion into Japan. I want you to practice this speech to show that we are a proper company, and that you are suitable for your position."

She continued to talk but Syaoran's eyes began to glaze over. Meiling slapped him with the cue cards he was supposed to practice and told him to pay attention. He took the cue cards from her hands and pushed her backwards towards the door. He opened the door and lightly pushed her into the hallway. "I'll start practicing now." He said with a smirk before closing the door on her. He just wanted to be alone and not have her breathing down his neck over the stupid banquet.

He sighed as he leaned against the cold wooden door. Looking down at the cue cards, he shook his head. He highly doubted anyone really cared what he had to say. No one really did so long as he didn't have control over the company yet. Yelan Li, the most influential woman in all of Asia, and no one would ever be able to replace her… at least until she decided to step down and allow Syaoran to take over. The likelihood of her giving the company to Syaoran soon was out of the question. She always told him that he wouldn't be able to take over the company from her unless he proved it, but gave him no actual way to prove himself.

It's not like he really cared all that much either, he got to travel and try and promote himself to other companies to prove that when Yelan gave him the company, that Li Corporations would still be worth their time and money.

The high pitch ring of the phone broke Syaoran from his daze as he got up from the floor and walked over to the phone. "Hello?"

"Well don't you sound like a ray of sunshine..."Eriol laughed from the other side of the phone. "Wei just got back from Hong Kong and I'm going to get our suits for tomorrow night, I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me and help Wei with our stuff and Meiling's request of having a choice of four different dresses?"

Syaoran shook his head, "Of course she did… I'll meet out front of the hotel in five minutes." He hung up the phone and grabbed his jacket. As he slid on his shoes he saw the cue cards still on the ground. _That can wait until later_, he thought. With that he closed the door behind him and went to go meet Eriol.

* * *

At least _try_ and look like you're having a good time…" Tomoyo whispered to Sakura. Tomoyo had kidnapped her from her table with food to stand with her and greet investors, claiming she didn't want to be alone. Sakura knew that Tomoyo didn't enjoy the stuck up feeling of business banquets and needed a bit of entertainment. It's not that she minded standing with her friend, it was the fact that she knew that her food was going cold, and they would scrap it soon; Tomoyo's money wasted.

Sakura was about to answer her friend when another investor came up and greeted Tomoyo with a business-like introduction. Tomoyo plastered on her business face and thanked him for coming, even though she really didn't know what he had to do with Daidoji Fashions. When he finished introducing himself, he noticed Sakura's presence beside her friend and turned to introduce himself to her as well. "Morimoto Saruto, president of Japan Airlines, and you are?"

"Sakura Kinomoto, Vice President of Clow Corporations; thank you very much for attending the banquet this evening." She bowed to the stubby man and he did the same. He appeared as though he wanted to continue talking, but when he felt a hand on his shoulder, he turned to face Kero dressed in his formal suit. Getting the hint that he needed to leave now, the man bowed once more before scurrying off, fearing the tall blonde stranger.

Sakura turned to face Kero, his eyes shined with pride as he looked at Sakura. She immediately understood that he was proud of her for openly accepting her role in Clow Corporations. She didn't often announce her true position in the company, and whenever she did she knew that it meant a lot to Kero.

"So this is where you've been hiding." He joked. A smile formed on his face as he looked at the two girls side by side in their formal dresses. "I'm surprised Tomoyo got you to wear a dress that _wasn't_ pink." He teased.

Sakura's face went into a pout, but could feel her cheeks burning. During their shopping excursions, Tomoyo had given up on finding Sakura's _perfect_ dress, and decided to go with an emerald Chinese Cheongsam that she had designed while thinking of Sakura. Silver vines wrapped around shin-length dress that spread into flower blossoms just underneath Sakura's breast.

"It took a lot of convincing, but she finally warmed up to it." Tomoyo smiled.

Kero chuckled at her comment, making Sakura's face redden more than she thought it ever could. "Well I just wanted to congratulate you on being able to go international." Kero smiled as he bent down and hugged Tomoyo. Many faces blanched at the sudden action of the man known as "Cold Clow", but Sakura knew better than the silly rumours. He pulled away and patted Sakura on the head before making his way over to Tomoyo's mother to repeat said action. The two girls watched him as he captured Sonomi Daidoji from behind in a hug. The people she had been speaking with looked as though they just witnessed a murder, causing both Sakura and Tomoyo to laugh so hard that tears began to cloud their eyes. Never in her life did Sakura think Kero could ever make such a public display of affection.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Miss Saidoji, but we thought we should introduce ourselves." A female voice said from behind them. The sudden appearance of a person caused both girls to jump and be face to face with a midnight haired beauty with ruby eyes. Instantly Sakura recognized the stranger.

"Meiling Li… so good to see you again." Sakura said bowing. Meiling looked over to the girl that had been laughing with, not expecting the person she saw. "You may not recognize me from the other day, I'm-"

"Sakura Kinomoto; I could never forget the face of the woman who managed to ran down the hallway after us. It's very nice to see you again as well. I wasn't expecting to see Clow Corporations here this evening." Her voice was melodic and seemed completely unfazed by Sakura's presence, although she said she had been.

Tomoyo jumped in before Sakura could reply, "Clow Corporations has been a benefactor of Daidoji Fashions for many years. I apologize for not properly introducing myself; my name is Tomoyo Daidoji, it's an honour to meet you this evening." The last part of her phrase had been said well rehearsed, as she had said it many times that night.

"No need to be so formal, Miss Daidoji, this evening I wish to get to know you better outside of business formalities. Enough about me, there are more important people than myself that you should meet." Meiling said as she side stepped. Behind her was another person that Sakura knew, the Eriol Hiiragizawa she had met with Meiling. She bowed in his presence, and he did the same to her before turning to Tomoyo and introducing himself in his well rehearsed voice. Sakura looked at Tomoyo whose face was red from blushing. She quickly gathered her thoughts before bowing to him as well.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Daidoji, my name is Li Syaoran, heir to Li Corporations." Sakura's eyes snapped at the man behind Eriol. Her heart nearly stopped at the sight of him. It was like a veil over her memories was pulled free as she remembered everything from her night out with Tomoyo. The man that had protected her from the drunken man, the two of them talking at the bar, and Sakura's flush of passion of making out with him at the bar; he was now standing in front of her, introducing himself as the heir to Li Corporations. She was sure she was going to pass out.

* * *

Syaoran waited for Meiling and Eriol to finish their introductions before stepping forward and introducing himself to the girl that had called herself Tomoyo Daidoji. She did the same and the two bowed once they had introduced themselves. He looked to the right of her and his breath caught in his throat.

There in front of him was the beautiful girl that had made out with him at the bar in her drunken stupor, now dressed in a form fitting emerald Cheongsam that reflected well with her emerald eyes. The two of them simply stood there for a moment, eyes locked on one another. She wavered for a moment and began to fall forward. He immediately stepped forward and caught her before she hit the floor.

"Sakura, Sakura are you ok!?" Tomoyo yelled. Her eyes screamed of worry as she looked down at her unconscious friend. Her name pulled his heartstrings, she really was Sakura Kinomoto.

Adjusting her weight, Syaoran fixed her so he was carrying her bridal style. "Where's a good place to put her down for her to rest?" he asked. It took a moment for Tomoyo to register what he was asking, but quickly directed him to a sofa in a back room, away from the crowds of people.

Tomoyo announced she was going to find a cold cloth for her before running out of the room. He gently placed her down on the plush sofa and brushed the hair out of her face. He never thought he'd meet her like this, and have her in his arms again, only with her unconscious. Heat rose to his face as he remembered her soft lips as she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck. Quickly shaking his head he stood up and went to leave the room. Looking back at her still form on the couch he chuckled to himself wondering what their next meeting would be like. It seemed like they could never meet normally, and hoped that that next time it would be just as interesting, but have a chance to talk to her like they had the night they met.

* * *

**And there you have it! **

**I hope that it wasn't too boring and that you guys are still enjoying the story so far. Next chapter will be up as soon as I finish chapter 6, which shouldn't take _too_ long. So let me know what you think with a review, and I can work on the rest of the story so that I can make this as engaging as possible.  
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**Remember: This story is purely written for your enjoyment.  
**

**P.s: I've been thinking about another CCS story and I wanted to know what you guys think, so if you could take a look at the little synopsis, let me know what you think!  
**

_Synopsis:  
_

_Legend of the wolf was known throughout the small village where she grew up, but to most, it was an old wives tale. but legends always have underlying truth to them. "Beware the wolf on the prowl at night, for he will devour you on sight. They say you can hear his howling cries... beware... Beware the amber eyes."  
_

***~CiaraUotani**


	5. Chapter 5- Can't Catch A Break

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she' ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_**A.N: Just a quick word, I actually had to re-write this several times. Once because Microsoft Word crashed on me and deleted everyhting I had for this, and the rest of the times was just cause I didn't like where it was going. PLEASE TELL ME IF YOU LIKE THIS VERSION!**  
_

_Chapter 5- Can't Catch a Break_

The feeling of jackhammers in the back of her skull is eventually what made her wake up. It wasn't Tomoyo talking on the phone panicking like no tomorrow, or the intense stares from Kero as she laid on the couch, but any of those could have done it too, which surprised Sakura that they hadn't woke her up.

She groaned as she opened her eyes to greet the unwanted light. Slowly she turned her head to face Kero who had immediately jumped to his feet when her eyes fluttered open. Sakura tried to sit up straight, but with pressure of Kero's hand on her chest told her he wanted her to stay lying down. "What happened…?" Sakura groaned. Lifting her arm, she draped it over her eyes, trying to remember what had happened.

"You fainted in the middle of the party for no reason… you scared the life out of me, Sakura!" Kero boomed. She knew that Kero had every right to be angry, but at that moment, when her head was pounding, she really just wanted him to stop talking.

The last thing Sakura could remember was Meiling and Eriol. There was someone else who came up to speak with them, but that's as far as her memory would take her. It was almost as though her brain was stopping her from remembering, frustrating Sakura beyond comprehension.

Tomoyo walked over from the other side of room, hanging up her phone to kneel beside her friend. She spoke in a much softer voice than her guardian. "Kero, can you please go get some more water for Sakura? I'll watch her."

Reluctantly Kero stood up and walked over to the door. Once the door had been firmly closed, Sakura was formulating a million questions, but none of them seemed to want to come out coherently. Tomoyo put a hand over Sakura's mouth before a mound of gibberish questions came falling out. "You fainted right after Syaoran Li came up to us… And no you're not crazy, he did look _exactly _like the guy from the club. He was also the one who carried you here."

Tomoyo gave her a minute to absorb everything that she just said before continuing, "I just got off the phone with Meiling, she was asking how you were doing. While you were kind of unconscious, she came in to check on you and to say good bye, and she asked if the three of us could have lunch together one day. I said that it was a great idea seeing as how we'll all be doing business with each other in the near future."

Sakura was about to reply when the door opened, and Kero entered the room with a tall glass of ice water. Giving Tomoyo the '_we'll talk later'-_ look, she reached for the tall glass and began to guzzle the refreshing water. When she finished the tall glass, her throat felt a hundred times better than before.

When Sakura tried to get up, Kero once again stopped her and told her to get some more rest. "I'll take you home, but you need to rest. When you wake up again, you may be in your bed at home, or still in the car on the way there. Just rest for now." He said calmly. He kissed the top of her head as Sakura began to lay back down on the plush couch and began to fade back into a deep sleep.

* * *

The restaurant was a cute café not far from Clow Corporations. Sakura's low heels clicked on the tile floor and took a seat by the window. As usual, she had arrived before Tomoyo. She knew she was ten minutes early, and Tomoyo was typically ten minutes late, but she wasn't sure about Meiling Li. She had decided it would be better to be early, rather than late, just in case.

A petite waitress came over with a server smile on her face. Sakura remembered the days when she had worked a part-time job as a waitress; they weren't all fond memories, but she could still easily recognize when a waiter of waitress had forced the smile upon their face. Just as she was trained to do, the small girl put a menu on the table and politely introduced herself. "My name is Maru and I'll be your waitress today. Will you be alone, or are others on their way?"

"Two more girls are coming to meet me, but don't worry, I can hold onto the men so you don't have to bring more out." Sakura smiled to the girl. She could tell the girl was surprised by Sakura's gentleness, but was visibly appreciated. "I'll just have a coffee for now, thank you."

Maru bowed to Sakura before making her way back into the kitchen to prepare the coffee. Waiting for the girl to come back, Sakura pulled out her phone to check the time. It was five to eleven, meaning Sakura still had time to kill before Tomoyo would show up. Just as Sakura's thoughts drifted to Meiling, the tall black haired beauty walked through the door. Her face instantly lit up as she spotted Sakura. She made her way over to the table, and Sakura stood to politely bow, but before she could even bend slightly, Meiling enveloped her in a bear hug.

"I'm so glad you're feeling better, Sakura." Meiling said smiling. She pulled away, and noticed the look of confusion on the brunette's face, causing Meiling to giggle as the two sat across the table from each other. "Don't look so surprised. Just because we're business partners, doesn't mean we can't be friends. That's why I asked you and Tomoyo to lunch today." Meiling's ruby eyes beamed happiness, making Sakura smile back.

No other business partners had tried to connect with Sakura as much as Meiling. It was a different feeling than she had been expecting. She wasn't quite sure what she had really been expecting, but the feeling of comfort and friendship was something Sakura was very thankful for. Beofre Meiling could say anything else, Maru returned to the table with Sakura's coffee. Immediately Maru bowed, apologizing for not returning with two coffees. "No need to apologize, I'm not in the mood for coffee anyway." Meiling smiled. The simple action set the young girl at ease as she raised her head to the two friends. "I'll have some jasmine tea if you don't mind." Maru was off again to prepare tea for the new customer.

"She's a sweet girl; I'll have to leave a nice tip for her when we leave." Meiling said turning her attention back to Sakura. "So Sakura, how are you?" Meiling said warmly.

"I've been doing rather well-"

"You don't have to speak so formally with me, you know. You _can_ let loose a bit, we're not at work, and Keroberos isn't going to walk in and scold you for not sitting with perfect posture." Immediately Sakura looked down at her lap. She knew she didn't have to be extremely proper with Meiling, but for some reason she felt the need to be. "Just talk to me like I'm Tomoyo, I won't be offended if you act like you're my friend." Meiling joked.

Taking a deep breath, Sakura leaned back into her seat, relaxing the muscles she didn't even know she had tensed. "I'm sorry…but to answer your question, I'm doing great. I haven't passed out or been sick since the party." Sakura smiled.

Meiling was surprised by how quickly Sakura could flip the switch of formality. Honestly, she liked Sakura when she was less formal, she seemed more… real. "I'm glad. Syaoran was-" the words barely escaped her lips when she realized what she was saying, and who she was saying it to. Sakura's face looked as if she'd seen a ghost with wide eyes and a deathly pale face.

"Well don't look too frightened when I come up to you… I didn't realize I looked _that_ bad." A voice came from beside Sakura.

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin at Tomoyo's sudden appearance beside her. She wasn't sure how long she had been sitting, staring at Meiling. From the look of regret on her face, she guessed it hadn't been too long. Tomoyo pulled a chair from another table to the side so she could sit with the two suspicious girls. "So clearly I missed something…" Tomoyo said putting her purse on the ground beside her. She brushed away a piece of hair that had fallen into Sakura's face. "Now why don't you tell me what's got you so spooked."

Meiling pulled her hands away from her once covered mouth and placed them in her lap. "I accidentally brought up Syaoran…"

Tomoyo was clearly still confused, not quite understanding why mentioning Syaoran was such a bad idea. Sakura hadn't gotten the chance to tell Tomoyo about her realization from the party since Kero had been by her side almost every waking moment, and if it wasn't Kero, Yukito took his place. She loved them both, but she felt strangled with affection.

"Well you see…" Sakura started. She wasn't quite sure where to begin. Should she start from their night out, or the party that had brought about her realization. Before her brain had processed anything she was thinking, words began flying out of her mouth. "I made out with Syaoran Li."

If it wasn't such a serious statement, Sakura would have laughed at the look on Tomoyo's face. Sakura had never been so blunt in her life, nor had she ever really made out with someone, and here were both slapped together, leaving Tomoyo practically falling off her chair. She could tell that her best friend had a million questions, but before she could ask any of them, Sakura raised her hands, finally grasping what she wanted to say. "Just wait… I fainted the night of the party because I realized who he was. The night that we went out to the club, and the drunk man hit on me and I was saved… well it turned out to Syaoran. I didn't know at the time since he used Hiiragizawa's name, but I had a little bit too much to drink, and when I went back for my wallet…. I kind of…" her voice trailed off as Sakura looked down at her hands in her lap.

Without finishing her thought, Sakura knew Tomoyo could put the rest of the story together. "Sakura…" the softness of Tomoyo's voice brought her gaze to meet her friend's. "I know it's really weird to talk about, but I think you should talk to Li."

"I- I couldn't –"

"You need to. Don't forget that Li is technically a partner with Clow Corp. now… don't you think it'll be difficult to do business with him if you can't even look him in the eye because of something that happened when you were drunk?"

"But Tomo…"

"I think it's a good idea, Sakura." Meiling's voice almost surprised Sakura. She had forgotten that Meiling was still sitting there. She smiled at the nervous girl, putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're not saying go track him down to talk to him, so you don't have to look so scared. The two of you are welcome to come by my hotel anytime to _accidentally_ bump into him. That way it's casual and you won't faint again." A smirk crept at the corners of her mouth as she spoke.

_There's no way I'm getting out of this,_ Sakura mentally sighed. Resigning herself to the fact that there was no avoiding talking to Syaoran, she reached for her coffee and quietly sipped it. She hadn't even really taken notice when Maru came to their table a couple more times to serve Tomoyo and Meiling. Her brain was pre-occupied with thoughts of the chocolate orbed man.

Sakura was brought back to reality when Meiling stood up and began putting on her coat. "I had fun spending time with you two. I hope that we can do it again soon." Meiling said smiling.

Sakura quickly rose to her feet to bow to Meiling, but was stopped by Meiling quickly hugging Sakura for the second time that day. Giggling, Sakura hugged the raven haired girl back for a moment before the two pulled away. Wasting no time, Meiling did the same to Tomoyo who showed no hesitation to return the hug. She hadn't even left yet, and Sakura already missed Meiling.

Finally saying their goodbyes, the three parted ways. Sakura began walking back to Clow Corporations to get some extra work done. Tomoyo had often told her that she needed to take time off, but work was what kept Sakura's head clear. It was either work, or have her thoughts taken over by Li Syaoran.

His smirking face slid into her thoughts and made her shudder. Not in disgust or revulsion, which she imagined happened when you thought of someone you didn't want to think about, but rather a strange tickling kind of way Never before had the thought of someone done that to her before. It wasn't a feeling that she was used to, and wasn't yet sure if she wanted to get used to it.

Before she knew it, she had reached the front steps to the beautiful skyscraper. Sighing, Sakura made her way into the building.

The doorman was only slightly surprised to see her, but quickly unlocked the door to allow her inside. Like everyone else in the building, he stood and bowed to her as she made her way to the elevator. Sakura tried her best not to groan in annoyance with the constant formality. It was one aspect of business that she didn't think she'd ever get over. "Miss Kinomoto," the doorman called.

Putting on her authoritative face, she turned to face him. "Yes? Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Mr. Li Syaoran is waiting for you in your office. He requested that I inform you in advance before you enter."

Sakura was sure she had fallen while walking, hit her head and was now living a nightmare. She wanted to scream in frustration, but feared that the doorman would think she had lost her mind. She uickly nodded before entering the elevator.

When she reached the top floor, she slowed her pace as she walked to her office. _Come on Sakura… you can do this… you're a business woman today, not the stupid girl that got stupidly drunk and made out with him, or the girl who fainted. Okay, you can do this._ She mentally pumped her spirits, in fear she would make yet another stupid mistake in front of him.

Sakura opened the door and was greeted by the young man quickly standing and bowing as she entered the room. "Good afternoon, Miss Kinomoto."

He lifted his head to meet her gaze, and Sakura was sure she was going to faint again. There was something about the way he looked at her that would make any girl swoon. _Get it together you moron!_ She mentally slapped herself for thinking the way she was when he was the heir to their business partner.

"To what do I owe the pleasure, Mr. Li?" Sakura said calmly as she sat behind her desk.

Following her lead, he sat back down in the chair across from her. "I came here, not for business reasons, but reasons of my own." He said leaning forward. Sakura could feel the heat rise to her cheeks. She had never been good at dealing with men, other than Kero, Yukito and her family, on a non-business level.

"If you don't mind me asking… how did you know I would be here today? It's Sunday, and typically I would not be in the office."

He smirked, making Sakura's heart skip a beat. _Stop it, heart! Why are you doing this to me!? So what if he's totally gorgeous and as much as I can remember, he's a damn good kisser!?_ Again her thoughts betrayed her, and nearly hit her head on her desk.

"I got a call from Meiling saying she saw you walking to the office."

_WHAT HAPPENED TO NOT FORCING, MEILING!?_ She mentally screamed. Using every bit of control she had left, she managed to hide her inner turmoil. "I see," she smiled. "back to the matter at hand, what is it than I can help you with, Mr. Li?"

"Please, cal me Syaoran. Mr. Li makes this sound far more formal than I meant it to be."

_Syaoran…_ She was slightly taken aback by his lack of formality, but her subconscious sighed at the sound of his name. "Then, to return the favour, you can call me Sakura."

"Well then _Sakura_, I wanted to come by and talk to you. I know this is going to be a slightly awkward conversation, but as future business partners, I think its better we get this out of the way as quickly as possible." Visibly swallowing hard, he continued, "The night at the club."

Sakura jumped out of her seat at the sudden mention of that night. She knew he remembered and knew who she was, but she wasn't sure she was ready to talk about it. "I think it's best if I stand while we talk." She said quickly. She felt the need to explain her sudden actions. Sakura guessed he could tell she was just as uncomfortable, if not more than him, since he merely nodded.

"I just wanted to tell you that what happened that night was alcohol induced, and everyone knows that booze can make you do and say things you might not really mean…" he trailed off, muttering something Sakura couldn't quite hear, but guessed it was better not to ask.

"I'm glad you understand. I don't want my ridiculous mistakes to affect the business relationship between Clow and Li Corporations."

"You know…" he smirked, "You don't have to pull the business talk on me."

She wasn't sure, but Sakura could feel her face flush even more. "I-I… I'm sorry."

"You don't have to apologize for being formal. I know you're planning on taking over after Keroberos, so I get that you want to live up to his expectations, but don't let take over who you really want to be."

Syaoran stood and walked over to her. His eyes were completely sincere and caring. The sun shining through the large glass windows behind her made his chocolate brown eyes shine. Reaching out a hand, he tucked a stray piece of hair behind her ear. His touch was warm, but still sent the tingling shiver up her spine. She looked up at him with wondering eyes, and couldn't help but softly close them as he leaned down from his taller stature to bring his face close to hers.

* * *

He wasn't quite sure what to do at that point. Syaoran had been waiting for Sakura to show up to clear up any misunderstandings about their "relationship", because there was none. Sure Sakura Kinomoto was the most gorgeous girl he had ever seen, but she was still under the legal guardianship of the most powerful man in Japan. And yet, from the moment she walked in that door, all that had gone through his mind was the night they met.

Despite his mind scolding him for his own thoughts and actions, here he was standing over her, only inches away from her soft pink lips. Her big emerald orbs slowly fluttered shut as he brought his lips closer and closer to her own. _What am I doing?_ Syaoran suddenly stopped moving closer, and began to backtrack.

_If I kiss her here and now, then the whole reason I came here will be for nothing. I'm just making everything worse by trying to kiss her_. Quickly he brought his hand back to his side, grabbed his coat and left.

The doorman gave him a wondering look as he was practically running out of the building. He needed to get far away before he went back and finished what he desperately wanted to finish. He knew that he was going to regret not kissing her, but knew it would be better in the long run if he didn't. _She was willing to let me kiss her…_ That thought along with the wondering look in her eyes made him want to take the coldest shower, to wash away the all too tempting thoughts.

Unlocking his car that he had shipped from China, he stepped in, slamming the door behind him. Taking a deep breath and sighing hard, he dropped his head onto his steering wheel. _Kinomoto… Sakura… you are going to be the death of me._

* * *

**_Thanks so much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter! Your reviews are the reason I want to get this story right. Although I'm not sure yet how long this is going to be, but we'll just have to see.  
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**_In this chapter there's a reference to another CLAMP anime/manga, do you know what it is?  
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**_LOOKING FOR A BETA EDITOR! PLEASE PM ME IF YOU ARE INTERESTED!  
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**_Replies:  
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**_jo: you're actually two steps ahead of the story ;)  
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**_Fashion Fairy 26: I know it's slightly girly that she fainted, but hey, it gave Syaoran a chance to take care of her, right?  
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**_Saki-Hime: That's right, she did! LOL Glad you liked it  
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_**Ro-Chan98: Thank you so much for the encouragement! I'm glad you've enjoyed it so far, and please keep reviewing to let me know if there's anything that needs to be changed.**  
_

**In the last update there was a little synopsis at the end for another idea of a CCS fanfic. I didn't hear back from anyone about what they thought of it, so I'm posting it again in case you missed it. Please take a look :) **

_Legend of the wolf was known throughout the small village where she grew up, but to most, it was an old wives tale. but legends always have underlying truth to them. "Beware the wolf on the prowl at night, for he will devour you on sight. They say you can hear his howling cries... beware... Beware the amber eyes."_

***~CiaraUotani_  
_**


	6. Chapter 6- When you Hit Rock Bottom

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she' ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_**A.N: Thanks for the lovely reviews, you guys are amazing! **_

_Chapter 6- When You Hit Rock Bottom, You Can Only Fall Further_

"YOU DID WHAT!?" Meiling and Eriol screamed in unison. There was no one to hide behind this time, and Syaoran knew he was going to be a dead man if Meiling and Eriol kept coming at him the way they were. Meiling reached for the closest thing to her, which happened to be the remote for the TV, and threw it at Syaoran with all the strength she had.

"I _almost_ kissed her, BUT I DIDN'T!" Syaoran said dodging the projectile object. The remote crashed against the wall of the hotel room, breaking it apart. "I walked away before anything happened, I swear!"

Meiling walked right up to Syaoran and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. "You _idiot_, that's the problem! You said she closed her eyes to kiss you too, and you _walked away!_ You left her standing there feeling like a fool! I SWEAR IF YOU WEREN'T MY COUSIN I'D-"

Meiling's threat was cut short by Eriol, who placed a hand over Meiling's, encouraging her to let him go. Slowly her death grip on his white dress shirt was released. Releasing the breath he hadn't even notice he been holding in, Syaoran relaxed. The relaxation was cut short by the punch that Eriol threw connected with his left cheek. Stumbling slightly, he looked up at his best friend he had thought was there to protect him from his crazy cousin, but instead took the responsibility upon himself. "As your best friend, it's my job to tell you that you are a _fucking_ moron, and what you did today is going to have more damage than the night at the club. You had better hope that Sakura doesn't tell _Keroberos_ or else we will have to most powerful man in Japan against us. You don't ever fucking _think_ do you!?"

With that thought hanging in the air, Eriol stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Syaoran looked to Meiling to see if she could make sense of what had gotten Eriol riled up enough to hit him, but she looked equally as stunned.

The two understood that Eriol was possibly just as upset as Meiling, but even Meiling wasn't going to punch him for what he had done. She would have pulled a couple of humiliating pranks, but to actually strike him was something neither Meiling nor Eriol had ever really done. They both knew what each other was thinking at that moment. _What happened to Eriol?_

* * *

_I think I'm just too humiliated to cry…_ Sakura thought as she stood in the shower back at her apartment. She had called Yukito to come and get her at the office, and he knew better than to ask why she was at the office on a Sunday, and why her voice was void of any emotion. Sakura could tell Yukito knew something was up, but he was too polite to ask her what had happened to make her act the way she was.

Leaning against the shower wall, she slowly slid down to sit in on the stone floor. _I wonder if he was just being polite and I completely read the signs wrong…_ She curled into a ball closing her eyes. She thought back to the office, and tried re-reading the signs he had shown her, to see if there was anything he had done that would have made her get the wrong impression.

The thought of his hand brushing against her cheek made her get the same tingling feeling she always got when she thought of him. It was something she was starting to get used to, which she wasn't quite sure was a good thing, but she was starting to enjoy it more and more

The more she thought about it, the angrier she got. All the signs had pointed to him leaning forward and meeting her lips half way. She wasn't the only one who should feel bad; he had left her standing there. _I've never been in a relationship, but that should have definitely led to something more than him walking away without a word.__ The next time I see him...  
_ she growled.

The ringing of her phone brought her back to her senses. Shutting off the water, she wrapped a towel around her and carefully made her way to her cell phone without falling and breaking her neck. -_Tomo 3- _was shining on the little screen. "Hey Tomo." Sakura answered, masking the raw voice which held both the humiliation and complete anger and frustration she had towards Syaoran Li.

"Why didn't you call me right away!?" Tomoyo yelled. Sakura was officially very confused. There was no way Tomoyo knew about the office since she hadn't called her yet, she just wasn't ready to actually voice her embarrassment. When Sakura kept silent, Tomoyo got the hint that she didn't understand what she was talking about. "I'm talking about the article in _Business Weekly_. I know that you like your privacy, but you would think that you would tell your best friend _and_ cousin that the whole reason you agreed to the partnership with Li Corporations was because you were PREGNANT!"

Sakura dropped her phone. Staring blankly out the window, there were no words that she could even begin to formulate at that point. She was still a virgin, and happily so. _Where could they have gotten the idea of a pregnancy from!?_ "Sakura, hey Sakura are you ok?" Tomoyo's faint voice could be heard from the phone on the floor. Her gaze shifted from the cityscape of Tokyo down to her facedown phone. It felt as if time had stopped at that moment, but was quickly brought back to reality by pounding at her front door.

Leaving her phone on the ground, she shakily made her way to the door to her apartment. Carefully opening it, she was met face to chest. Looking up, she suddenly wished she were still back in the shower.

Kero and Touya stood over Sakura looking down at her with a mix of piercing anger and unconditional concern. "What brings you two…" She didn't even bother finishing her sentence and opened the door further for the two to enter.

Silently they entered and sat on the same couch facing Sakura as she closed the door. Nearly immediately when Sakura reached the couch they both began speaking at once with questions of accusation and concern. Sakura looked back and forth from Kero to Touya, not able to make sense of the jumble of words. "One at a time…"she managed to croak.

Kero looked at Touya, giving him permission to speak first. "Was what the article said true?" he tried to say as calmly as possible. Anger was visible on his face, but with years of experience he managed to calm himself enough to hear her out.

"No."

It took a moment for the two to understand what she had said, but the one word answer made the tension in the room vanish. The pair sighed and leaned back into the couch. Kero then took his turn to speak, "if that's the case then this needs to be resolved. They said that your fainting spell at the party, and the partnership agreement being so close together was too coincidental. I have already fired three employees who gave statements that reinforced the rumour."

Sakura nodded, understanding that rats in a company were bad news. Touya was about to open his mouth to share his thoughts when another knock at the door interrupted him. Sakura was sure it was Tomoyo, angry for basically dropping her phone and walking away from her best friend who was just trying to understand the situation.

Opening the door, Sakura slammed it before either the person at the door or Kero and Touya could say anything. _This day just keeps getting better and better…_ Sakura muttered to herself. The knock came again, but louder and sounded much more vicious than before. _Please go away… I'm begging God; I really don't need this right now!_ She prayed. Again the knocking came and Sakura decided God was not on her side.

"Are you going to answer the door Sakura?" Kero asked

Sakura's eyes widened as Kero got up from his seat and made his way to the door. Sakura needed a plan and fast to get Kero away from the door and make the knocking stop; nothing came to mind. Before she knew it, Kero was standing above her and effortlessly moved her away from the door and reached for the handle. He opened the door and Sakura's heart sank.

Kero stood nearly toe to toe with the last person Sakura wanted to see at that moment… Syaoran. The look in his eyes suggested he had not expected to see Kero answer the door, and quickly looking for his reasoning for being at Sakura's apartment. Kero's face remained stone cold as he spoke. "The man of the hour has made his guest appearance. Please come in, we have a lot to talk about Mr. Li." Stepping to the side, he motioned for Syaoran to enter without a word. Kero's eyes never left Syaoran as he nervously walked in. If he had, he would have seen Sakura trying her best not to scream at that moment.

Everything was going wrong. It hadn't been Sakura's plan to have to deal with Syaoran after just hours ago he had left her standing there looking like an idiot. Now he had to answer to both Kero and Touya about the rumours, and have to pretend as though he hadn't just completely humiliated her in her own office. _I've hit rock bottom_ Sakura thought, shaking her head as she walked back to the living room where Touya waited with a very unpleased expression when Syaoran came into view.

"Touya, this is Syaoran Li. Mr. Li, this is Touya Kinomoto, Sakura's older brother. Now that introductions are over let's talk-"

Kero was interrupted by Touya suddenly standing up, standing over Syaoran. The height difference wasn't much, but Sakura could see how much Touya had taken Syaoran by surprise. "What the hell is going on with you and my sister?" he said bluntly.

I was sure I was as pale as a ghost, but I was the last thing anybody would have noticed at that point. Kero stood next to Syaoran waiting for an answer, while Touya stood trying to seem bigger than he was. "Both Sa-Kinomoto and I are merely business partners." At the mention of her first name, Touya reached for Syaoran's shirt collar.

"Touya stop! I gave him permission to call me by my first name when we're out of business!" Sakura cried.

Finally, as though she had magically appeared, all eyes turned to her. Touya's reflected his need to "protect" his baby sister. Kero's reflected a mixture of amusement and protectiveness. However Syaoran's kept her gaze for the longest. His chocolate eyes were that of amazement and gratitude, but there was something more that Sakura couldn't quite grasp. She wasn't one to be poetic in description, but there was something about Syaoran Li that made her rethink the way she said and saw things.

"Why don't we all just sit down and talk… Touya, that means let him go." Sakura spoke with confidence that even surprised her. Touya recluctantly released Syaoran, who took a seat on the foot rest which had been moved to be beside the armchair. Kero sat in the armchair while the two siblings took their place on the loveseat. "Kero… What do we do now? We all know about the scandal, so how do we fix it?"

Kero's expression was firm. His lips were a firm line as he looked from Sakura to Syaoran. He spared a glance at Touya trying to silently communicate his plan before saying anything. It took Touya a moment before he understood, his eyes widening. If Touya hadn't begun to respect Kero over the years, he would have punched the man in the face. _He's supposed to be her guardian, not her father, and here he is making decisions for her._ Touya thought, burying his face in his hands.

"I spoke with Yelan Li today." He began. The mention of Syaoran's mother made him become as straight as a board. It was well known that Yelan Li was a strict woman, and one could only imagine what it would have been like to grow up with her as a mother. "And although we have had our differences in the past, she agreed to my proposal, with the approval of Fujitaka." He continued. By now, everyone in the room was hanging onto every word as he spoke.

Sakura noticed a glint in Kero's eyes that hadn't been there before. It was that of almost sadness. Suddenly Sakura became very worried for her guardian. He hadn't shown very much sadness in front of her over the years since her mother had passed away. His blue eyes locked with hers with a pleading look.

"Yelan has agreed that a business merger would benefit both Clow and Li Corp, with the catalyst of Sakura and Syaoran."

Sakura was sure at that point… she had passed rock bottom. _Looks like when you hit rock bottom… you can only go further_

* * *

"What the fuck was that about, Keroberos!? You said my father approved of this!? Just because of some fucking rumours you marry my sister off!?" Touya screamed.

After the announcement, Syaoran had immediately stood up and left. Sakura was a little more than petrified, taking slow, shallow breaths. Touya then announced that he and Kero had to leave. Kero had known that the moment he stepped out that door, Touya would be out for blood.

"Are you listening to me, _old man_!?"

That got Kero's attention. In the years that they had known each other, never before had the young man ever spoken to him with such a malicious tone. It cut deep into Kero. "Touya, you know I would never do something that would cause Sakura any harm."

"Bull fucking shit! If you loved Sakura like you say you do then you would have found another way to get her out of this situation! Sometimes I fucking wonder why my father left you to take care of her, because as far as I can tell, you've just been using her like a little puppet! In reality, you don't give two shits about her at all!"

The moment he said those words, Touya immediately regretted it. The look of utter horror and hatred flooded across Kero's face at that moment. He stopped walking and turned to Touya. "You don't think I tried?" he spoke in a low tone. Slowly as he got closer to Touya, he began to speak louder and louder. "If I could have done anything to stop Sakura from having to marry that _gaki_ I would have! Both _you_ and Sakura mean so much to me, that you don't even realize! I never had kids, Touya, because I didn't realize until it was too late how precious it could be. I would tear down Tokyo for your two!" he paused for a moment catching his breath before continuing with more conviction than before.

"Touya, I wouldn't have even let him near her with a ten foot pole if I had a choice! As the heir to Clow Corporations, she needs to have a clean slate, otherwise business can get messy. The fact that she's a woman; men will find any reason, any reason at all to bring her down. The only reason I even spoke to Yelan and Fujitaka about it was because of the article.

"The moment I saw it, I knew things were taking a turn for the worst. I had to find a way to protect her now, and that would keep her safe even after I give her complete control of Clow. Simply threatening _Business Weekly_ for that article wouldn't erase it forever; too many people have seen it. The only way to keep her safe is to come up with a plausible answer… and in this case, I merger. I won't make them get married anytime soon… I know she's not ready for that."

Touya took a moment to think about what Kero had just laid on the table. He had known that Kero had meant well for Sakura, but hadn't realized how much thought Kero had put into his decision. He sighed and leaned against the brick wall of Sakura's apartment building. The two fell silent against the noisy soundscape of Tokyo nightlife. "So why did Yelan agree? I mean, it's not like she has anything to gain…" Touya finally spoke.

He lifted his gaze to see the expression that Kero was making. Normally he would have hidden any sign of emotion, but being with Touya, who was like his son, and in his emotional state, he revealed everything in just one facial expression. "she has everything to gain… She's a vindictive woman; she has her reasons."

With that Kero turned to go back to his car. Touya was about to call after him, when his own ride pulled up into the parking lot. Yukito gave him a warm smile from the driver's side of the car. Touya sighed, knowing that Yukito shouldn't know about the arranged engagement just yet. Giving his boyfriend a chaste kiss on the cheek, the two made their way back to Yukito's apartment.

* * *

Meiling softly knocked on Eriol's door. She hoped to talk to him about what had happened earlier, and explain his actions. She had nothing against giving Syaoran a good clock in the face, but she hadn't expected _him_ to do it. She had always been the one to give Syaoran the more physical punishments, while Eriol was better at cutting him with words. They made a good team, which was why they were entrusted to look after Syaoran. Clearly he needed a 24/7 watch team.

When no answer came, she grabbed her key to Eriol's room and softly opened it. Inside the room, all the lights were off. The only light that guided her was what little light of the setting sun that came through the curtains.

She quietly tiptoed her way in, in case he was asleep. She soon found that it looked as though no one had been in the room since housekeeping had come by around ten that morning. The only thing that had shown any sign of somebody present was the balcony doors slightly ajar. Softly shutting the door, Meiling made her way over to the door, trying to be silent in case anyone was outside.

Eriol was sitting on the banister of the balcony looking out at the bustling city below. Deciding it wasn't polite to keep sneaking around, she decided to make her presence known. "With that faraway look it's no wonder you're the second most eligible bachelor in Hong Kong." She teased.

He turned his head and met her gaze with his classic smirk. Although he looked normal, there was something about the smirk that almost seemed forced. Never before had she seen Eriol with that expression. "Well I can't help it they find me irresistible."

Swinging his legs to completely face Meiling, she took a step forward and placed a hand on his shoulders. He looked up at her questioningly. She was trying to silently convey her support for whatever he was dealing with and he seemed to understand as he placed his hand on hers. "I'm fine… Syaoran just find of blew my lid today…"

Taking a seat beside her friend, she encouraged him to continue. "In the little time we have been here, he has managed to completely screw everything up. Sakura Kinomoto seems like a nice girl; an honest girl. I don't want his pig-headed attitude to take that away from her…" Eriol took his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose before looking at Meiling with honest conviction, "I think coming to Japan was a mistake."

In that moment, Meiling knew what was really going through Eriol's head, and where his mind was really wandering. She had the same idea, but hadn't really told anyone. _Syaoran will never take working in Japan seriously, and he's going to toy with Sakura until eventually she breaks and this whole deal will fall through… _

"You're right Eriol… but it's too late to pull out now. According to _Business Weekly_, there's now a scandal that Sakura is pregnant. Both Keroberos and Yelan called me earlier; they have a plan to manipulate the scandal to make this seem like an honest merger…"

Meiling stood up, taking her cue that she should leave Eriol to take in what she had said, and to also get some sleep before a meeting at Clow Corporations in the morning. "Will you help me keep Sakura at a safe distance from him?" she heard him say softly.

Turning back, she saw the complete sincerity in his eyes. With a small nod, she left him to his thoughts on the balcony overlooking the beautiful Tokyo cityscape with his thoughts.

_He's falling for Sakura Kinomoto…_

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading! I hoep you enjoyed the chapter on this lovely International Singles Awareness Day (aka: Valentine's Day)  
**

**I'm also still looking for a beta, if you are interested, please let me know. I won't be picky about the betas, even if you're new this will be great practice for you since I know I can make some grammatical errors :)**

**x-x-x-x**

**Replies:**

**Saki-Hime:** I hope that her reaction was what you were hoping.

**Hatsuki:** Well I'm working hard to finishing it, but I'm really glad that you're enjoying reading this! And thanks to your review, I've started working on just the basics for the other idea, so I hope that you'll look forward to that one as well :)

**Fashion Fairy 26:** Well neither could she ;) There's lots more of those moments coming up, so I hope you like them XD

**Ro-Chan 98: **I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for the review!

** .39:** Thanks so much for your reviews! I was so happy/surprised to see you reviewed every chapter! I'll try and update more often, and I'm glad you've enjoyed it thus far. Please let me know what you think of this one as well!

**x-x-x-x**

***~CiaraUotani**


	7. Chapter 7- A Chance is All it Takes

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she' ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

**I'm soo sorry for the extremely delayed update! School has been packing on work, drama with friends and finally got up the nerve to ask the guy I like out... So it's been pretty crazy!**

**On top of this, I've started working on _Amber Eyes_, so keep a look out for that coming soon!**

_Chapter 7- A Chance is All it Takes_

Closing the car door behind her, Sakura made her way into the Clow Corp. building early Monday morning. Any other day she would have been happy to go back to work to see the work to be done that she actually enjoyed doing and the busy day of meetings… but the meetings for that particular Monday were not the ones she was highly anticipating.

The whole drive from her apartment to the office, she had been thinking of different reasons that she could get out of going. Yukito could see her discomfort, and had tried to console her, but even his kind words weren't enough to calm her frantic nerves. This was after all, the meeting that would determine her future as the next president of Clow Corporations; the meeting that would dictate the rest of her life… that would lock her into marriage-hood.

Her high heels clicked across the marble floor, and the three cheerful receptionists each bade her a good morning. She stepped into the elevator, luckily all alone. _This is not a good morning…_ she mentally told herself. She wasn't ready for this meeting; to be married off to the rude, inconsiderate, and helplessly attractive, Syaoran Li.

Most women would be jumping out of the skin for joy, calling all their friends to brag, and already be planning their wedding day; Sakura didn't feel like doing any of these things. She had made out with him in a drunken stupor, and as a repercussion it has led her to saying 'I do' to a man she could honestly care less if he hit the guardrail on the way to the office. _Not once… but TWICE he has left me standing/sitting alone like an idiot to deal with the mess that we're BOTH stuck in!_ She leaned against the cold walls of the elevator, and wanted to smack her head a little harder to see if she'd wake up from the endless nightmare.

The elevator came to a stop and with a ding; the doors opened revealing the ever busy executive floor. The busy atmosphere was clouded with a hint of discomfort. Apparently she hadn't been the only person in that mood today. Only some people looked up to watch her as she walked towards her office; some with looks of pity and others of jealousy. They had only heard about the situation in _Business Weekly_, which meant they all thought the angel they all admired was actually a closet whore…

Closing the door to her office behind her, she released the breath she hadn't even noticed she had been holding. Sakura tried her best to keep a strong aura about her, but in reality she was so sick of the drama. _It's all Syaoran's fault…_

Composing her thoughts, Sakura made her way over to her desk. She turned on her computer and set down the files she had stayed up all night compiling for Kero's other meetings in the afternoon. She needed something to get her mind off the meeting only an hour away.

A knock at her door saved her from thoughts of Li Syaoran and brought her back to the present. "Come in." she called.

The door softly opened and a young man walked in. He looked to be about Sakura's age, maybe even a year or two older. He didn't seem to hold a lot of confidence in himself, but that often happened when people entered her office; they felt intimidated for whatever reason.

Setting her pen down, Sakura gave the young man her undivided attention. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked in her business-like tone.

He flinched slightly at her cold tone. Realizing she wouldn't be helping anyone if she made him piss himself in the middle of her office, she stood up and walked around the other side of her desk. She switched her tone to a warmer one, and asked again reaching out to him. "What can I do for you?"

He raised his eyes to look at her, this time with more confidence and self worth. The change was almost instant, that Sakura barely had time to register the fact that he had now closed to the space between them, leaning over her with her pushed up onto her glass desk. _What the-_ She didn't even have time to finish her thoughts when he roughly grabbed her arm. "What I want you to do is exactly what you did for Li Syaoran."

Her mind went into overdrive of questions, with no actions. Who the hell was this guy? What was he talking about? Why was he suddenly assaulting her in her office?

The last question made her react a little more. She began to push him away, but his hands wrapped around her wrists and pulled them above her head. Leaning forward, his mouth now beside her ear, "I know you're not really pregnant with his child… you're just sleeping around with him." Quickly shifting his hold, he now held her wrists with one hand while the other now wandered near her legs. "I've been watching you for a long time, and always thought that there was no way I would ever have this chance; the chance to touch you like this."

Sakura was too stunned to speak. _He watches me? So he must work on this floor… but who the hell does he think he is touching me like this!?_ She began struggling some more; this only caused him to chuckle at her attempts to free herself. _I'm still happily a virgin and there's no way in hell this guy is taking that from me in my own office!_

Finally everything snapped into place, and Sakura let out a very loud, very high pitched yell, "Get off of me!"

The man, now surprised by her actions began to be roughed with her. "Shut the hell up! You are nothing more than a whore; so as a whore, either shut your mouth or I'll do it for you." With that, he brought his face down on hers and roughly captured her lips. Only one other guy had ever kissed her, and even though she had been drunk, it had felt a hell of a lot better than the kiss he was now forcing upon her.

A loud bang came from the door, but the strange man didn't stop his assault on her lips, not letting her respond to whoever was trying to save her. She realized he must have locked the door when he came in, preventing anyone from stopping him, and giving her less of a chance to escape. Another loud bang came again, but she still wasn't able to call for them. With one final crash, her office door crashed open.

Sakura's assailant was thrown off of her and into the wall on the other side of the room. Now standing over her was someone she hadn't expected. Eriol Hiiragizawa took off his black suit jacket and slightly placed it over her shoulders before returning his attention to the man slowly getting up. Eriol walked over to him and picked him up by the collar of his shirt and punched him square in the jaw.

People in hall gasped at the sudden act of violence from the usually calm business man. From Sakura's desk, she could see one of her secretaries pick up her phone and begin dialing. _This isn't going to end well..._ Sakura thought. She felt like she should stop Eriol from hurting the man, but somewhere in the back of her mind she knew she was slightly glad he was getting his just desserts. Finally deciding that it needed to end, she fixed her skirt and top before standing up.

Both men turned to look at her, followed by everyone else who had been granted a place in the small doorway to watch the brawl. All eyes looking at her expectantly, but nothing came to mind. _Next time: figure out what you're going to say before you stand up! Sakura you moron!_ Her mind screamed.

Clearing her throat she struggled with piecing together what she should say. "Eriol, please let him go." Eriol's eyes widened, but did as she asked. The disgusting bastard picked himself up off the floor; his right eye already swelling and a bloody lip completing a look that Sakura could only think that he deserved. "Now you, listen here. I don't know who you are, but that was sexual harassment; I could have your ass fired and sued for what you just did to me!" Her voice slowly getting louder, making him wince and the onlookers snicker slightly. Taking a deep breath, she started again, "But because you could easily counter Mr. Hiiragizawa with assault, I will not press charges if you do the same for him. You will however, clean out your work station and never set foot in this building again."

The man looked at her for a moment, a glint of the same sexual desire flashed across his face, but he nodded and pushed past the people standing at the door. The women backed away from him, and men stepped in front of them to keep them away from the dumb bastard who had tried to assault Sakura. Glares and harsh words were spread all across the floor; he wouldn't leave the building without some emotional scarring to top off his battered face.

All eyes turned back to Sakura and Eriol who had watched the man walk away. Sakura quickly realized people were staring at her again before sending them back to their stations. Eriol closed her door as they walked away, leaving them alone in Sakura's office away from prying eyes.

Just as the door closed, Sakura lost all support in her legs and fell to the floor, clutching Eriol's jacket around her. All the confiedence she had mustered fled her in an instant, leaving her the weak girl she knew she really was. Eriol dropped down beside her, not quite sure what to do. Softly and awkwardly he placed a hand on her shoulder.

The moment he made contact with her, the door burst open yet again; in the doorway stood a very concerned, very messy looking Keroberos. "Sakura are you alright?"

Within an instant, he shut the door and bent down to sweep the young girl into his arms. Eriol had never thought he would see Kero act so forwardly in front of anyone but Sakura, but guessed that Kero hadn't even noticed that he was there. Soft sobs were then heard from the now fragile-looking girl. Realizing that he was technically intruding on this tender moment, Eriol excused himself and quiet exited the office. Neither Sakura nor Kero looked up to say anything as he left.

* * *

Ten minutes before the meeting, Sakura's phone buzzed on her desk as she grabbed her papers. Without looking, she grabbed her phone and quickly answered while putting away the files that had been disorganized by the earlier incident. "Good Morning, Sakura Kinomoto speaking."

"Don't go all business like on me! You have a lot of explaining to do, Missy!" Tomoyo yelled.

"H-Hey there, Tomo… I actually have a meeting to get to…"

"Oh no you don't, Sakura! Last night you just stopped answering me! The only reason why I didn't storm your apartment was because Kero called me and told me to call you before twelve today to talk to you today before twelve."

Sakura sighed as she sat in her chair behind her desk. She knew there was no way she was going to get to hang up unless Tomoyo got the whole story. Starting from the beginning, Sakura explained what had happened after she saw her at the café: everything from finding Syaoran in her office, to him leaving her standing there like an idiot and then finding out about the pregnancy story. She explained Kero's plan to save Sakura from being eaten alive by rumours and prejudice in the company.

Five minutes to twelve, Sakura finished her story. Silence fell across the conversation as, Sakura assumed, Tomoyo was taking in the events that had turned Sakura's life upside down.

Tomoyo let out a light chuckle. "Tomoyo, this is serious! Because of all these scandals, some guy from the company pretty much tried to rape me!" Sakura whined as she placed her head on her desk.

"Sorry for laughing, Sakura, but the whole thing with Syaoran isn't _that_ bad. As for the dirt bag who tried to attack you, you can bet that he'll never get a job ever again in all of Asia; both Kero and Syaoran would make sure of that."

"What do you mean 'not that bad'!? And Syaoran wouldn't care about what happened…"

Tomoyo sighed at her friend's dramatic view on the situation. "Think of it this way Sakura. Clearly if he was thinking about kissing you, he's attracted to you. This means that there's potential to make chemistry between you two! If you try and make the relationship work then isn't really as bad as you think it is. Even if you aren't seeing Syaoran, he still obviously feels something and would easily go after this guy for what he did."

Sakura lifted her head up as she took in everything Tomoyo threw at her. _Does Syaoran feel anything…?_

"Just give him a chance, Sakura. Now get your butt moving or you'll be late for that meeting! Call me later!"

Sakura jumped to her feet as the call disconnected and grabbed her stuff. _12:58, I have two minutes to get there!_

Briskly walking down the hall, she made her way to the meeting room. She saw Meiling and Syaoran getting off the elevator and making their way to the room as well. He hadn't seen her, but Sakura couldn't help but look at the beautiful amber pools of his eyes.

_Give him a chance…_

* * *

The clock struck twelve, meaning the meeting had officially begun and everyone was present, thanks to Meiling forcing Syaoran out of bed on time. To say the least, Syaoran had no desire being in the same room as Sakura casually discussing their future "relationship".

Sitting across from him, the girl in question looked to Keroberos, waiting for him to start the meeting. Syaoran couldn't help but notice her eyes appeared glassy and distant, even as she looked up at the man she most admired. He stiffly shifted his gaze to both Meiling and Eriol on either side of him, looking to see if they had noticed. Meiling was also looking at Keroberos, and Eriol seemed off in his own little world; he had been since even before both Meiling and Syaoran arrived at the Clow Corporations building.

"I'm glad you could make it today. We all know why we're here today…" Kero started. Tossing an object onto the table, it skidded to a stop between Sakura and Syaoran. The front page was covered with the typical sneak peeks into the featured articles, but one headline in particular popped out, along with the cover photo. A collection of sneak shots of both Sakura and Syaoran were plastered with large front which read 'Li and Clow Partnership: Heir in the Air!?'

"It's such a blatant lie…" Sakura muttered.

A silent agreement fell across the room, but even so, everyone recognized that something needed to be done… even Syaoran.

"Even though we all know that this is completely false, that's doesn't mean that others will see this the same way. From here on, both Sakura and Mr. Li will be targeted by press about their relationship." Kero's eyes shifted between Sakura and Li as he spoke. "The only way to fix some of the damage that has been done to follow suit with a story that covers all trails and save you from the lies that wills spur from it." He eyes darkened and trailed off.

Sakura shifted uncomfortably in her chair, and Eriol seemed to snap back to reality. _What's that about?_ Syaoran thought to himself. He tried to lose interest in their reaction, but couldn't help but look at Sakura wondering. She seemed to notice his eyes, and looked up to meet his. Her big green eyes seemed to daze him as they lost their glassy look but instead was filled with something Syaoran wasn't quite sure how to describe.

"This morning's incident will be the first of many if this is not solved quickly." Kero continued.

_Incident?_ Syaoran's head began coming up with different ideas of what could have happened: none were good. He began to drone out the conversation as Meiling and Kero began speaking back and forth about the details of the engagement; none of it really mattered to him since he was never going to take it seriously. The only thought in his head was what had happened to make both Eriol and Sakura so uncomfortable.

"Isn't that right, Li?"

Keroberos' sudden address to him made Syaoran jump slightly. Meiling gave him a knowing glare, and motioned for him to simply agree. "That's right." He tried to smoothly save himself by acting as though he knew what they had been discussing. Kero gave him a nod of approval before turning to Sakura and speaking to her in a quiet voice. Her eyes slightly grew wider and wider the more he said before snapping her gaze directly at Syaoran.

Stepping back, Kero gave her a soft smile before returning his attention to Meiling. "I will contact you if any further information or agreement is required."

"Yes of course." Meiling stood and bowed to both Sakura and Kero. "And before I forget, Miss Yelan Li sends her regards to you, Mr. Clow."

If Syaoran hadn't been paying attention, he realized he would have missed the tensing of the tall man's jaw and knuckles turning white. The discomfort in his stature was painfully obvious. Syaoran knew what it was like to feel awkward or have someone say something that caught you off guard, but this even surpassed anything Syaoran had ever seen or experienced; he felt bad for the middle aged man.

Quickly composing himself, Kero bowed and exited the room leaving the group in the meeting room only guessing what could have come over the typically cool and collected man. The atmosphere in the room was stiff and suffocating.

Meiling cleared her throat before saying her goodbyes to Sakura. Eriol and Syaoran quickly followed after her, leaving Sakura to awkwardly leave the room last.

* * *

Syaoran quickly made his way out of the building, wanting to leave that whole meeting behind him. He wasn't blind and could see that Sakura was a very attractive girl, but the reality of it was that he barely knew the girl. At 26, he sure as hell wasn't ready to deal with the scandals and the pressure involved with marriage. Eriol, Mailing and his mother had no problem signing his life away, but as far as Syaoran was concerned, this arranged marriage would only happen if he were dead.

"Syaoran!" Meiling yelled

Syaoran tried to ignore his cousin's wailing and continued to walk to the car that Wei had brought by to pick them up. Again and again she screamed at him, but he tried to block her out.

"Li Xiao Lang!" Meiling yelled as she threw her purse at him. The clean shot hit him right in the back of the head, making him lose his step and stumble down the last couple steps.

Syaoran turned and glared at the fuming girl at the top of the stairs. "What the hell is your problem, Meiling!?"

If it were possible, the girl would have had smoke blowing from her ears as she stormed down the steps. "What's _my_ problem!? What about you!?" Meiling reached the bottom of the stairs and stood directly in front of her moronic cousin. She poked him in the chest as glared up at him because of her lower stature. "Throughout that whole meeting you were sitting there like a complete moron! I swear Kero was going to thump you on the back of the head if you hadn't agreed! You didn't even know what you were agreeing to!" Stepping back she covered her face with her hand. "He asked you if you would take care of Sakura through this whole ordeal… You better live up to that."

Syaoran watched Meiling as she slowly calmed down and bent down to pick her purse dusting it off. A sudden loud chime startled them both. Reaching into her purse, Meiling pulled out her cell phone and quickly answered in the way she always did, "Meiling Li speaking." Her business face morphed into a shocked expression as the person on the other side of the phone spoke. "Yes of course, that's not a problem at all… Bye Sakura."

Meiling laughed as she looked up at Syaoran's stunned face. At the sound of Sakura's name, his whole body tensed. _Even the sound of her name stresses me out…_ He thought.

"Sakura said that she needed you to go back upstairs and meet her in her office. Apparently she needs to speak to you." Meiling said walking past him. "I'll take the car back; you can get a cab or something." Without another word to Syaoran, she got into the car and told Wei to leave for the hotel.

Growling, Syaoran made his way back up the steps and into the building. All eyes were on him as he walked in; he hated every minute of it. He hated the way they looked at him, judging him even though the only thing they knew was that he had apparently knocked up the boss' "daughter".

He arrived at Sakura's office door and knocked impatiently. "Come in!" she called from inside. He swiftly opened the door to find Sakura surrounded in papers and files. She looked up and her expression quickly became nervous.

"You called me?" Syaoran said as he closed the door. He walked further into the room, and with every step he took she backed her chair away from her desk. Her reaction confused him to no end: she had been the one to call him up here, so why was she acting like that?

"Oh I… You see…" She looked away from his questioning gaze. "K-Kero wanted me to um… I mean you…." She stuttered and nervous wrapped her hands in her jacket.

"You going to tell me any time soon?" He asked teasingly. He liked seeing her nervous, it was amusing to see the way she reacted whenever they were alone. Thoughts of standing over her as she softly closed her eyes, wanting him to kiss her came flooding back into his mind. Heat rose to his face as he remembered how much he had really wanted to lean in just an inch more to capture her lips.

The shy girl looked up at him from her chair with big eyes and a blushed face. Syaoran was sure that the look she was giving him was nothing, but his pounding heart couldn't lie. She looked so completely innocent and vulnerable that he wanted to wrap his arms around her to keep her that way. _What the hell am I thinking!?_

"I w-was wondering if you wanted to g-get some lunch with me…" her voice shook and faltered as the question left her lips.

Never before had Syaoran been so at a loss for words. It was a simple question, but it was an invitation for lunch from the same girl he had left standing in that very office. The same girl that he was supposed to watch walk down the aisle to him and say 'I do' to spending the rest of her life with him. He had tried to convince himself that he only felt lustful towards her, but the way she looked up at him with her big brown eyes made him question that. She looked so innocent and weak, but he knew that she also had fire in her that was also equally as attractive.

His silence made her falter and look away from him again. "N-Never mi –"

"Alright, let's go."

The look of utter shock was written all over her face. Syaoran smirked at her and held out a hand for her to join him. She looked from the hand to him several times before slowly getting up from her seat and walking around the desk to take his hand. They had been much smaller than he had thought they would be, but they somehow fit perfectly into his.

"Are you sure…?" Sakura asked as he opened the door for her.

Syaoran smiled at her and nodded. Sakura smiled up at him; a smile that broke down the last wall he had set up around his heart to protect it from her. He hadn't wanted to let her in at all, but somehow just by a few simple words and looks, she had somehow made him feel like the happiest guy in the world. _I'm not a sap, but this girl is something else…_

People from all around the office watched them as they made their way to the elevator. For some reason, he didn't mind their stares anymore.

_Give her a chance…_

* * *

_**Thanks so much for reading! Please Read and Review~**  
_


	8. Chapter 8- Meeting the Matchmaker

**_Vices Versus Virtues_**

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she' ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_Chapter 8- Meeting the Matchmaker_

Sakura wasn't sure how things had ended up the way they did, but apparently Syaoran was in a polite mood and had taken pity on her enough to agree to her invitation to lunch. When she had asked, she had been fully prepared to take his decline with stride and keep her pride intact, but his acceptance through her for an even bigger loop than if he _had_ said no. She knew she probably looked like an idiot staring at him like he was an alien from Mars that had captured the real Li Syaoran and taken his place, but that's what she was sure had probably happened otherwise there was no way he would have said yes.

This was supposed to be the same man that she had made out with in a bar, and then when he came to tell her to forget it all ended up nearly kissing her again but instead left her standing in her office alone feeling like a complete idiot. And now, this same man was now walking her out of the building _holding her hand_. She tried to ignore the watchful gazes of practically everyone that saw them. Some gave her thumbs up, some were just interested to see the "expecting" couple, and a few gave her either jealous or dirty stares.

The building's doorman had gotten out of his usual seat to open the door for them as he normally did for Sakura. The breeze swept in from the streets gave Sakura a chill, making her whole body shiver. She quickly realized that she had been in such a daze that she had forgotten her blazer on the back of her chair. Autumn was quick to bring in the colder air, making her regret leaving her jacket upstairs.

Weight and warmth were draped over her shoulders. Looking up, she saw that Syaoran had removed his very unprofessional like aviator jacket and placed it around her. "Thank you…" She said softly. A different kind of heat rose to her face, and he apparently noticed by the smug smirk plastered on his face as her face began to take on a darker shade of red that was clearly not from the wind.

Walking in silence, Syaoran's hand easily wrapped around her own. It was hard to believe that it hadn't been that long ago that she had met him in the club. Now that things weren't as tense between them, Sakura could really begin to relax and enjoy the calming feeling of being with him. For the first time she felt comfortable with another man besides her father, Kero, Yukito or Touya.

The city was in a buzz as usual with cars or every type and colour moving steadily along, and pedestrians quickly making their way to wherever it was they were heading. A few heads turned at the sight of the two making their way down the street, probably recognizing them from the article put out by _Business Weekly_ and beginning to formulate possible places they could be going together. To most people, they would think a gynecologist after seeing the ridiculous article, which couldn't be further from the truth seeing as how the two only _just_ fixed the awkward tension between them.

Syaoran stopped in front of a beautiful traditional Japanese restaurant that seemed to be buzzing with people during their lunch hour. The building had a glass front making the entire front wall completely transparent, but had traditional shoji screens with beautiful decorative designs, giving privacy to the patrons inside, and yet getting all natural lighting. Syaoran wrapped his arms around Sakuraa as they walked through the glass front doors. The interior wasn't extremely large and followed a similar design with traditional bonsai trees and decorative flower arrangements were found in the center of the tables. Nearly every table was filled with people eating all kinds of beautifully arranged food. To say the least, Sakura was impressed.

"Table for two," Syaoran said to the hostess.

The hostess was dressed in a beautiful, dark blue kimono decorated with white cherry blossom branches and flowing petals. She looked down at her seating chart for any available tables and began shaking her head. "I'm sorry; it seems we're completely booked. The estimated wait is approximately a half hour."

"My name is Li Syaoran, there should be a table that is always reserved for Li Corporations here…" Syaoran replied.

The woman looked down at her chart again but shook her head once again. Syaoran didn't seem pleased by the woman's answer and gave a look that, to Sakura, almost made her slightly afraid of him. "Li Corporations funds millions of dollars into _Nihon'Nobi_ every year and are to have a reserved table at every location..."

The hostess looked from Sakura to Syaoran in a state of panic. Sakura didn't blame the poor girl, how was she supposed to know about something like that? It's not every day that someone from the Li Corporations walked into that location… Li Corporations only just came to Japan several weeks ago. The poor flustered woman looked down at her seating chart again, and Syaoran began to look more and more irritated. He was about to speak out again when Sakura quickly cut him off.

"Perhaps it's not in the main seating area. Why don't you go ahead and ask someone, we don't mind waiting a few moments." She smiled warmly at the poor scared girl. Nodding quickly, she made her way to the back of the restaurant.

Syaoran looked down at Sakura confused, who in turn looked back up at him with a glare. "You don't need to petrify the poor girl, Syaoran."

"She was taking way too find one name… and what I said was true, we do fund millions so it's kind of an insult when they don't uphold their side of a deal."

Sakura stepped away from her comfortable position under his arm and looked at him dead in the eye. "She's just a hostess, don't blame her for not knowing about a _corporate_ deal. She was probably never even told that they _had_ a permanently reserved table for Li Corporations. When I worked as a waitress, there were a bunch of things that _I_ didn't know." Taking a deep breath, Sakura calmed herself before she took her frustration further. "Just don't jump to immediate conclusions like that, okay?"

Sakura smiled warmly up at Syaoran. He was clearly taken aback by the girl's sudden forwardness about defending the hostess. He stared at her for a few more moments before the nervous hostess came back to the waiting pair.

"I apologize for the wait… It seems there is a separate room upstairs for corporate clients, like Li Corporations that I wasn't told about. We don't get many and this is only my second month working here. I'm so sorry for the confusion and making you wait, Mr. Li." The young girl bowed deeply, showing her completely sincere apology.

Sakura smirked at Syaoran, silently saying_ 'I told you so'_ as he fumbled to find the words to say to make his earlier outburst better. "No, really…. You don't have to… It's ok… Um…" His cool business aura had completely vanished, leaving him a normal flustered man. Sakura basked in the moment of proving him right before stepping in and asking the young girl to raise her head. "Everyone makes honest mistakes like that. Could you please show us in?" she said warmly. The young girl nodded happily at Sakura's kind attitude.

The pair was led through the busy restaurant to the back where a wide staircase led to a spacious second floor. It was identical to the main floor in theme, but unlike the first floor, there were smaller private rooms all enclosed by shoji screens and wasn't a single person on that level. The young hostess placed our menus on a table on the table in a private room before excusing herself and closing a screen door behind her.

"Well this is more like it." Syaoran said smirking.

There was nothing extremely extravagant about the room, but the tableware was classier and the decorations included a lovely, tall flower arrangement in the corner of the room. Syaoran walked over to the Western-style table and pulled out a chair for Sakura to take a seat. Blushing slightly, she took a seat and thanked him quietly.

Syaoran took his place in the seat in front of her and casually took his menu and began to look through. Sakura tried to do the same, and looked at the different dishes they served, but her eyes always seemed to wander above the menu and look at the handsome man in front of her.

She had never been blind to it before, and hadn't denied that fact whenever she faced him before, but it now that the there was no tension or even a hint of an awkward atmosphere, Sakura couldn't help but notice his features. How she had managed to end up having lunch with the handsome man that she had once been extremely angry at was a mystery to her. Another mystery was to _why_ he had actually said yes. Still considering her alien theory, Sakura watched him as he flipped through the pages trying to decide what he would order.

"Unless nobody told me, I don't think I have the menu written on my face." Syaoran smirked as he looked up at Sakura catching her watchful gaze.

Sakura's face darkened red in embarrassment. _Of course he noticed you completely gawking at him! He's not blind!_ Sakura mentally yelled. It was now Syaoran's turn to watch her as she faced her inner turmoil of being a complete moron by blatantly staring at him. Trying to save face, Sakura said something that any person in that situation would, "I wasn't staring at you… There's just a nice design on the shoji screen."

Syaoran began to laugh at her obvious failure attempt to cover up her obvious stares. His warm, resonating laugh sent shivers up Sakura's spine. Never before had someone had this strange effect on her, and she wasn't sure what it really meant. His laugh softened to a chuckle, and his eyes, which Sakura found strangely captivating, met hers once again. Silently Sakura hoped that the moment would last forever; being caught in his gaze was mesmerizing.

Syaoran stiffly cleared his throat before looking away to the wall, "You can pick whatever you'd like; lunch is on me today."

Sakura looked at him with a shocked expression, but decided not to question it by simply nodding and looking down at her menu. As she looked at each dish trying to decide, Sakura could feel Syaoran's watchful eyes on her. The two couldn't keep their eyes away from each other; something kept drawing Sakura's eyes away from her meal choices to gaze into his eyes. _What is this feeling…?_

* * *

The lunch date continued on very quietly, but not in an awkward silence. The peace of the room was strangely comfortable. Syaoran had enjoyed watching Sakura try to delicately eat her food so she wouldn't make a fool of herself in front of him. He found her quite adorable, but her stiffness made him wonder what it would be like if she were to just let go and let her hair loose like the night they first met.

Hand in hand, again they walked up the street back to Clow Corporations' building. To Syaoran, their time at the restaurant seemed too short and found himself wanting to spend more time with her. _She probably just wants to go back to work…_ Syaoran sighed. _But I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask her… Wait what? Why am I pining over her like a love-sick moron!?_ His inner turmoil quickly became noticeable as his hands tensed around Sakura's.

"Are you alright, Syaoran?" Sakura asked in a small voice.

Syaoran looked down at her, and her big emerald eyes looked up at him with concern and confusion. Of course Syaoran smirked at her and told her nothing was wrong, and the two continued to walk. Unknown to Sakura, Syaoran continued to fight his inner battle to ask her to go out again another time, but the side of him that wanted to be with her began to lose to his ego and ridiculous pride.

"Thank you for the amazing lunch…" Sakura said softly. They had arrived in front of the Clow building and other people in the lobby and parking lot began to take notice of the pair as they both stood facing each other with partially flushed faces.

"it was nothing… I guess I'll see you around then."

Syaoran turned on his heel and began to walk towards the main street with his hands buried deep into his pockets, leaving Sakura standing there watching him walk away and the onlookers baffled about the very interesting atmosphere between the two. Rounding the corner, Syaoran paused outside the gates of the extremely tall building. Hesitantly, Syaoran looked back to where he had left Sakura and saw her scurrying inside with a group of people close behind calling her name. _I feel bad for leaving her with them…_ Syaoran thought. His worries quickly put to rest as the usually lazy doorman stood up and pushed many of the interrogators back out of his lobby.

The sudden high ring of his phone brought Syaoran back to reality and made him aware of the strangely stalker-like action he was doing. Composing himself, he tapped the screen and answered the phone, "Good afternoon, Li Syaoran speaking."

"Good afternoon, Li Syaoran… My name is Tomoyo Daidoji, I was wondering if you had a moment to spare." A soft feminine voice spoke.

The name rang a bell in his head as he tried to remember where he had heard it before. He was sure he had heard Eriol or Meiling mention the name before, but it slipped his mind completely. As he normally did when he forgot a name, he played it cool and hoped she would mention how he would know her. "Yes of course, how can I help you Miss Daidoji?"

"I was calling to ask you about Daidoji Fashion's expansion into China. I was told that you would be accompanying me back to China next month to begin the growth, but I haven't heard anything about it since the banquet."

In an instant, Syaoran remembered the petite, raven-haired girl. She was Sakura's best friend. She was a Li Corp partner. She was his ticket to understanding the mystery that is Sakura Kinomoto. "Right, the expansion… How about we arrange a meeting this afternoon where you and I can sit down together and discuss the plans?"

Tomoyo was apparently very pleased as Syaoran could practically hear the young woman instantly changed to a brighter mood. "That would be incredible! I will have all the necessary arrangements for when you arrive. Is five o'clock alright?"

_This couldn't have ended any better…_ "That's perfect; see you then."

Syaoran arrived at Daidoji Fashions headquarters fifteen minutes early for his meeting with Tomoyo. He had called Meiling soon after he had hung up with Tomoyo and asked her to forward him his schedule for the next three months as well as all background partnership information on Daidoji Fashions. Syaoran had decided that is he wanted to succeed with understanding and getting to know Sakura Kinomoto better without making it obvious to her then this is where he had to start.

The Daidoji building wasn't nearly as large or extravagant as Clow, but still held a regal appearance with its shining white exterior and tinted windows. Even with only five floors in total, a large stone canopy hung over the doors with elaborate vines winding up the support pillars. Across the side of the canopy, _Daidoji Fashions_ read in beautiful, black calligraphy script. All in all it was nothing special, but it was about to become a very important place to Syaoran: the place where he will be able to learn the ins and outs of Sakura Kinomoto.

The front desk secretary looked up at him with a bored expression but instantly snapped alert as she noted the beautiful man approaching her desk. Syaoran smirked at her reaction and decided to play off of it. "Why hello there, beautiful." He said slyly.

The young woman, taken off guard was left in a stuttering stupor. His grin grew from ear to ear when her face began to flush a dark shade of red. Although he spoke words of flattery to her, Syaoran didn't see anything particularly outstanding about the girl; _Nothing like Sakura…_ He found himself thinking. Syaoran mentally smacked himself, and tried to keep his flirtatious look fixed on the young woman in front of him.

"I'm here to see Miss Tomoyo Daidoji; we have a meeting at five."

Instantly grounded, the young woman tried not to look disappointed as she learned the truth of his visit. She turned to her computer and looked down at what Syaoran assumed were her notices beside the screen before she began punching in numbers into her phone. "Mr. Li Syaoran is here." She spoke before hanging up.

Syaoran was taken aback by how she knew his name, but his questions were quickly answered when he noticed an email on her computer screen as well as the _Business Weekly_ news article open directly beside it. When the secretary looked back to Syaoran, her gaze was now cold with disapproval and judgement. Her lips were a thin line as she spat out coldly, "I don't know what your real relationship is with Sakura… but she is a sweet girl. If you hurt her, there are many people out there who won't think twice about coming after you."

Her threat wasn't an empty one, and sent shivers down Syaoran's spine. He was about to reply when a petite woman with waist length midnight hair walked into the main lobby. "Mr. Li, thank you so much for waiting. Please, follow me."

Sparing one last glance at the suddenly threatening woman, he followed the friendlier woman further into the building. "My name is Tomoyo Daidoji," the small woman began as Syaoran caught up to her. "We met at the banquet, but we all became slightly… occupied." Syaoran remembered the banquet where Sakura collapsed. It had been the very night where he realized that the innocent girl had the ability to pull his heart strings in ways he didn't think a girl could.

The two alked through the halls, and Syaoran couldn't help but admire the layout. He had been expecting the typical cubicle-style building but was thoroughly impressed with the open concept design; to his right, separated by glass, there was a large workshop filled with large tables littered with sewing machines and mannequins wearing half completed designs. On his left, a solid wall was decorated with plaques, and pictures all positioned at different stages along the wall. The pictures were of many models wearing what Syaoran assumed were their most famous designs, but one picture in particular caught his eye.

In the middle of the wall sat a large, blown up picture of two young girls. The two were smiling like they were the happiest children on the planet. The one on the right, Syaoran assumed was Tomoyo Daidoji, due to the long midnight hair and identical eyes. She was holding a tape-recorder with her arm slung over the girl to the left. She had soft brown hair and shining emerald eyes. Even though she was wearing a very extravagant pink dress decked out with large white crinoline and holding a cute wand, she still beamed at the camera. Syaoran realized who the joyful young girl was: Sakura Kinomoto.

"That was the first dress I ever successfully made. Sakura was my first ever model too…" Tomoyo trailed off as she stopped beside Syaoran to admire the photo. "You know…." She began again, "I did call you hear to talk about our companies' deal, but I would be lying if I didn't mention that I had more personal motives to bring you here."

Syaoran turned to face the young woman and found her looking at him with eyes filled with stern conviction but laced with warm concern. He realized that they had both been planning the same thing with this meeting; getting to know each other for Sakura. Tomoyo sighed as she turned away from Syaoran and looked back to the large picture of the two girls on the wall. "You know, Syaoran… you are the first guy Sakura has ever even come close to having a real relationship with."

To say Syaoran was surprised would have been an understatement. The beautiful, cheerful, funny young woman that he was so captivated by had never had a boyfriend before. Tomoyo took his silence as a chance to continue, "I know that this is whole marriage with her is arranged through business, but I hope you realize that you will be with her for real, no matter what the reason is. As her friend, I want her to be happy; can you do that Syaoran? Can you make her happy?"

Silence fell between the two. He looked up at the young smiling face of the girl he was supposed to spend the rest of his life. "I don't know…" he said softly.

Tomoyo sighed and turned to continue walking down the hallway to her office; Syaoran fell into step behind her. "I know I'm asking a lot of you right now, but I hope that you think about all this from now on." She said softly as she opened the door to her office. Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him. Syaoran guessed she was looking for any sign of an answer written in his expression, but he tried to keep his face as composed as he could. He stepped forward into her office and the door closed softly behind him.

"I know you're not really here to talk about the trip to China, Mr. Li." Tomoyo's sudden forwardness made Syaoran waver his composed expression and was at a loss for words. "You want to know more about Sakura, right? Well I'd be happy to help you." Syaoran looked up at the small woman. She stood leaning against the door to her office with a cheeky smile and her eyes shining like she was up to something.

Syaoran visibly gulped and Tomoyo chuckled slightly at the sight of his nervous attitude. _Why do I feel like this wasn't such a good idea now?_

* * *

_Thanks for all your reviews! I decided to make Tomoyo the matchmaker between these two, meanwhile Meiling is trying to help Eriol even though he doesn't really realize it himself._

_I'm also really glad that some of you have read the first chapter of _Amber Eyes_ and left some reviews on that as well. I'm going to try and update a little more often and alternate between the two. _

_Please Review and let me know what you think :D_


	9. Chapter 9- Fleeting Escape

_*!Sakura was a small town girl, raised to appreciate everything she' ever had. Syaoran was a rich boy from Hong Kong, setting business roots in Tokyo. Let the two worlds collide, and trouble in bound to stir.!*_

_Chapter 9- Fleeting Escape_

The warm setting sun cast a beautiful orange-red glow through the windows in Sakura's apartment. She busied herself in the kitchen with loud music blaring over the radio. She didn't want to think about the lunch she had had with Syaoran because her chest and head began to hurt every time, and she hadn't quite figured out why. Also every time she thought of their afternoon together, she remembered the intense crowd that had decided to try and follow her into the building, and then waited for her at the end of the day. She was used to reporters from news channels wanting the scoop on the latest business deal, but she wasn't sure how to handle dozens of them questioning her about her love life… with Syaoran.

Gain the panging feeling in her chest made her stop and try to think of something completely different, but every topic she thought about always brought her back to Syaoran. The annoyingly attractive man always seemed to overtake her mind. There was no escaping the confusing hold he seemed to have over her. _I need to know what's happening…_ Sakura decided.

Leaning over the island in her kitchen, Sakura grabbed her phone sitting in her purse that was resting on a tall bar-stool chair. She had three unread messages, but she didn't want to distract herself anymore; she wanted answers. She decided Yukito would be the best person to ask who would give her clear and unbiased answers. She would normally call Tomoyo, but the girl always seemed to go into overdrive when the two talked about her and Syaoran. _I'll call her later._

The phone only rang a few times before Yukito's soft came from the other side and Sakura turned the music down to hear him speak; "Hello Sakura, do you need a lift?" he asked.

Sakura laughed, "You make it sound like the only reason I call you is because I want to go places. You _are_ a friend too, Yuki, not just my chauffer."

"I guess that's true," he laughed, "But you haven't called me just to talk in a while. I guess I just expect it to be about taking you places. So now that it's out of the way, what can I do for you?"

Sakura smiled as she heard the clanging of utensils in the background on Yukito's end of the phone. She imagined the delicious food he would be cooking and became slightly envious as she stared down at her meager attempt at cooking. Yukito had been the one to teach her, but she was still nowhere near as talented as he was.

"I just wanted to talk about…" Sakura trailed off. If she was going to open up to Yukito and tell him _everything_, she was going to need a glass of wine. "I need your advice about Syaoran." She said bluntly.

After pouring the glass half-full, Sakura sat on the couch in her living room with her glass in hand and listened to Yukito. "Well this is a first, Little Sakura is actually taking an interest in a boy."

"No, it's not really like that…"

"You can't lie to me, Sakura. For all the years I've known you, you've never _once_ asked about a guy. I've never even seen you go out on a date, and then all of a sudden, Li Syaoran comes around and you're suddenly engaged. It's moving quickly and you're lost about how you feel. Am I right?"

Sakura sat in silence. Yukito had hit it right on the head, and Sakura was at a loss for words. When he laid it all out in front of her like that, she couldn't help but agree. She had never really dealt with guys before; she had always been working hard to make her father and Kero proud and had left the drama of high school relationships behind her. Tomoyo had told her to hat least go out on a date, but she had never found a guy that she could take seriously. They all just wanted to talk about sports that Sakura didn't care about, music Sakura didn't listen to, or people that Sakura hadn't even heard of. And here was the result of all the years of denying any guy that came her way: Sakura was lost in the world of guys.

Sakura took another sip of her wine as she continued to think about it. Yukito patiently waited for her to connect all the dots knowing it would all sink in and she would realize just how lost she really was. Finally grounded enough to speak, Sakura put her wine glass down on the coffee table and leaned back into the couch. "Yukito… I'm so lost. Please…"

That was all she had to say before Yukito continued. "I was lost too when I wasn't sure about the feelings I had for Touya. It was a different concept for me to think I loved a guy, but I realized that I would have been lying to myself if I said any differently." Yukito sighed, and Sakura could hear the clank of the spoon he had put on the counter. "Why don't I pick you up, and you can spend the night here. Pick out whatever you're going to wear to work tomorrow and I'll bring you back here so we can talk, okay?"

Sakura smiled. Yukito always seemed to know what she needed. "Sounds great,"

"I'll see you soon." He said as he hung up the phone.

Sakura jumped up from her seat on the couch and quickly went to put everything she had been planning on cooking away. Luckily she had only prepped the vegetables and turned on the stove, making her clean up quicker than she had expected. Once all the pans and food were put away where they belonged, Sakura hurried into her room and began sifting through her closet for something she could wear to work. Sadly it was only Tuesday, and Sakura had the feeling it would be a long week.

A knock on the door made Sakura jump, but she quickly called out, "The door is unlocked, come on in! I'm in my room!"

Sakura quickly pulled out a pair of black dress pants, a green blouse and a pair of black heels and put them into a small overnight bag where she kept extra toiletries for times like this. Zipping it up, she turned and headed back towards the living room where Yukito would be waiting. She reached for the door, but was beat to the doorknob when the door swung open and hit in her in the face. Sakura stumbled backwards holding her forehead where the door had connected with the most and with the most force. "Ow, be careful with the door!" She said slightly frustrated.

"Sorry about that…"

Sakura's gaze snapped up and found herself looking Syaoran in the face. _THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!_ Sakura wanted to scream. Instead she held it in, but didn't bother the hide the surprise on her face. Syaoran didn't seem to notice, as he seemed to look everywhere but at her. "I'm surprised you didn't come to the door and just let me in…" He finally looked at Sakura and noticed the black bag in her hands. "Oh… are you going somewhere?"

Sakura looked down at the bag in her hands and back up at Syaoran. Yukito would be there any minute and Sakura really didn't want to have to deal with both of them at once. "Yeah, I'm heading out right now… I thought you were someone else." Sakura said as she moved around him and back out in the living room to grab her purse and subconsciously tell Syaoran he needs to leave. The feeling in her chest started again, and she tried to ignore it. Sakura reminded herself it was only because she didn't know how to deal with men that she was reacting the way she did towards Syaoran.

Before she realized, he had crossed the room and put his hand over hers to stop her from busying herself and look at him. When she did, the panging in her chest doubled. She tried to pull her hand away, but Syaoran was too fast and gripped her hand so she couldn't escape. "Sakura…" he said softly. Sakura looked up at him completely bewildered. His face was inching towards her, his lips only inches from hers. They hadn't been that close since their near-kiss experience in her office.

"Syaoran, what are you –"

Sakura found her lips captured by his and slowly messaging her own. His eyes were closed and hands moved from holding her hand to holding her close to him at the small of her back and the other caressing her face. Sakura stood completely rigid and wide-eyed, trying not to lose herself in the make-your-legs-feel-like-jelly kiss he was giving her. Sakura's hands were between her and Syaoran, the only hope she had of escape was to push him away, but the small part of her that was enjoying every minute of the kiss stopped her from ending it.

Syaoran's hand that was softly holding her face moved down to her neck, sending tingling shocks throughout her body, and revitalized her arms. Giving just enough force to break the kiss, Sakura pushed on Syaoran's chest and looked up at him with the same wide-eyed expression. He looked down at her with a warm smile and a look in his eyes that Sakura couldn't quite describe. "What the _hell_ was that!?" Sakura yelled. Her jelly legs had just enough strength to take a step away from him and grip the side of the counter to stop her from collapsing.

Syaoran didn't say a word, instead gave her one last look before he turned to the door and walked out of her apartment. "Syaoran!" Sakura screamed. She would have run out of her apartment, chased him down the hall and kicked his butt, but her legs weren't in working order yet. The only thing she had to show her frustration was the high pitched scream she could produce with her vocal chords.

_What the hell was that about!? Who does he think he is coming into my apartment and kissing me like that!?_ Sakura slowly found the strength in her legs to angrily finish packing to stay over at Yukito's. Now she had even more reason to talk to him, maybe he would explain Syaoran's extremely bizarre and totally uncalled for behaviour.

Sakura was too busy slamming cupboards closed and muttering to herself as she packed her bags to notice the knock at the door, or Yukito call out to her as he politely entered. She only noticed his presence when she turned around and found him staring at her while she had been cursing under her breath about Syaoran being "an unreadable, self centered moron" and "a handsome, very attractive pain in ass who needs a good punch in the face to bring him down a peg or two". Sakura sheepishly grabbed her purse and bag and walked out of the apartment, with Yukito, still mouth agape trailing behind her.

"I feel like I missed something" Yukito finally spoke up when the elevator door closed and they were alone in the small metal box. Sakura had tried not to look at Yukito or call attention for him to take notice of her, but unbeknownst to her, he hadn't taken his eyes off her since they had left the apartment. Sakura knew that Yukito was surprised by her violent comments and seething attitude, seeing as how she normally tried to not let her anger get the best of her.

Sakura sighed and finally looked up at Yukito. He looked down at her both amused and concerned about what could have happened from the time he hung up the phone with her to when he arrived at her apartment. The apartment had been a wreck from Sakura's tendency to throw pillows and clothes when she was upset, only piquing his interest further. "Before you came… Syaoran showed up at my apartment."

Yukito sighed and leaned against the back of the elevator. Sakura wanted to punch the side of the elevator, but the doors dinged open before she could lift her fist. She tried to seem as calm as possible as she and Yukito walked across the lobby and out to the car. All of her limbs were stiff from anger and tension, making it difficult to try and walk calmly. What she really wanted to do was find Li Syaoran and make him explain himself. She was just so frustrated, not just about the kiss, but the fact that he just walked out of her apartment afterwards.

Yukito took her bags and put them in the trunk before joining her in the car and pulling away from the building and make their way to his place for the night. It had been a long time since Sakura had stayed with Yukito for a night because she needed his help. Nothing made sense to her and she needed someone to help her sort out her thoughts.

She had had a meeting in the morning and had shown up at work early, ended up getting sexually assaulted by some man she had never seen, went to a meeting about her future relationship with Syaoran, went to lunch with him and had a great time, was attacked by the press about her love life, and then in her moment of confusion about her feelings for him, he shows up and kisses her without any warning and then leaves. _This has been the longest day in history_. Sakura leaned back into the leather seats of the car and closed her eyes trying to make her day disappear into the busy world outside the moving vehicle and escape it all, even for just a few minutes.

Sakura was woken up when the car stopped its soft rumbling and Yukito softly touched her arm. She lazily rubbed her eyes and sleepily smiled at the gentle man beside her. He smiled at her before stepping out of the car and rounding the car to her side and opened the door to lift her out. She curled into his warm chest and strong arms trying to shield herself from the cold of the night. Sakura hadn't felt so at peace in what felt like years.

When they arrived at Yukito's apartment, he laid her down on the couch before heading back down to the car to grab her things. Sakura sighed and pulled the soft blanket she loved off the back of the couch and wrapped herself up in its warm embrace. _I never want this to end…_

Yukito walked into his apartment and found the girl he always admired as a little sister curled up on his couch. She didn't often call for help, and most of the time it was to either Kero or Tomoyo. Only when she ever _really_ needed help did she call on him to come and get her. Her small sleeping figure reminded how fragile the strong-looking girl was.

A buzzing in Sakura's bag made him break his reverie. He reached into her handbag and pulled out her phone and saw that it was a blocked number calling. "Hello?" He answered. He left the living room and walked into his bedroom so he wouldn't wake the poor girl up after her endless day.

"Sorry, I must have the wrong number… I'm looking for Sakura Kinomoto."

"This is Sakura's phone…" Yukito tried to identify who would be calling at such a late hour, but didn't recognize the male voice. "She's asleep right now, can I take a message?"

"Oh, I didn't realize…" The voice was stiff with surprise. Clearly the stranger didn't know who he was and was surprised to hear that Sakura was sleeping with another man around. Yukito held back a laugh as the man was looking for words but only managed incomprehensible stuttering. "I'll just call later…" He finally managed to say before quickly hanging up.

Yukito hung up the phone and began to laugh, trying to muffle it so he wouldn't wake Sakura up in the next room. He felt bad for Sakura having to deal with all the drama and politics that had been shoved in her face over the past couple days. He resolved that this would be Sakura's escape, even if it was just for a short while.

The next morning, Sakura woke up at the slight shaking at her arm. She groaned and pulled the soft blanket over her head, "Five more minutes, Touya…"

"As flattered as I am that you think of me as your brother, I've never called you a little monster." Yukito said playfully. He wrapped his arm under her back and pulled her up into a sitting position. The blanket fell away from her face, revealing her messy bed-head and heavy lidded eyes. "Now _that's_ the face of the Sakura Kinomoto I watched grow up."

She sleepily rubbed her eyes and looked up at Yukito. He was so gentle and kind that Sakura just wanted to stay with him instead of going to work where day after day new crap disturbed what she had wished was a quiet life. It _had_ been a quiet life until she met a certain crazily-attractive jerk. "What time is it…?"

"It's late enough that we should leave in the next ten to fifteen minutes if you don't want to be late." Yukito eased Sakura up into a sitting position and she slowly rose to her feet. She stumbled slightly at first but began walking across the beautifully designed and impeccably clean apartment to the bathroom. She was slightly uncomfortable and stiff from sleeping on the couch in her clothes from the previous day, but was happy that she had slept at all. Had she been alone and at her own apartment, she wouldn't have slept at all.

Ten minutes later she exited the bathroom fully showered and with a fresh outfit brushing her short, damp hair. Setting her brush down in her bag, she walked over to the kitchen table where a plate of bacon, eggs and toast was waiting for her. "You're really too good to me, Yuki." Sakura said sitting down and digging into the delicious food in front of her.

"Just fulfilling the whole brother's-boyfriend-taking-care-of-the-little-sist er duty I have since I'm responsible for making sure you don't keel over." He said as he cleaned up the kitchen.

When Yukito and Sakura had first moved to Tokyo from Tomoeda, Sakura used to stay over at Yukito's apartment a lot because the idea of being in the empty apartment made her home-sick. After a while, Sakura felt bad imposing on Yukito and had begun spending more time at her apartment and eventually stopped coming over all together. It had been at least six months since the last time Yukito had told her to come over, but that had just been because Touya was visiting and Yukito was throwing a dinner party. Sakura hadn't realized how much she missed waking up to a happy Yukito every morning. He was the older brother Sakura had always wanted Touya to be, but instead Yukito balanced out his rough exterior.

Once she was finished, Yukito cleared away the dishes while Sakura brushed her teeth and threw the rest of her things into her bag. They were a few minutes leaving the apartment, and Sakura only hoped that the traffic was good enough to make up for it so she wouldn't be late. She had a budget meeting and several annual reports to look through for all of the different companies Clow Corporation had taken over. She hoped it would be another busy day and find more ways to distract her from thinking about the man that seemed to possess her every thought lately, Syaoran. She shivered as she thought of him from the night before and the literal breath-taking kiss.

* * *

Syaoran woke up when his phone buzzed under his pillow. He groaned knowing it was Meiling giving him crap for not showing up to any of the meetings she had set up, but he could care less. All night he had stayed up, not able to sleep while thinking of Sakura and the talk he had had with Tomoyo.

Tomoyo had become his guide through the mystery that was Sakura. She seemed strictly professional and strong, but she was really soft and gentle. Even though she was soft, she had a bad temper that would scare just about any full grown man. But most of all, according to Tomoyo, she was very dense when it came to other people. Syaoran still didn't understand the many faces of Sakura, but knew that it would come with time.

He groaned and rolled over and answered his voice with a thick voice, "I know I missed the morning meetings but when you stay up all night tossing and turning. I'll call you and wake you up so I can –"

"I'm not here to bitch you out about missing morning meetings." said a voice that was definitely _not_ Meiling.

_The two sat across from each other at a small coffee shop only a short walk away from Daidoji Fashions where Tomoyo delicately drank her tea and Syaoran impatiently tapped his foot. She had promised to tell him everything and help him with winning Sakura over. During their walk over, he had resigned himself to do and accept anything his little matchmaker told him to do. He was drawn to the beautiful emerald-eyed girl and could use all the help he could get._

_She lightly placed the cup back on the decorative saucer and smiled at Syaoran. At the banquet she had seemed far more fake-happy, but as Syaoran looked at her now in front of him he could see she was genuinely excited to divulge everything to help him. He was grateful, but still made him feel slightly uncomfortable. _

"_So Mr. Li," Her sudden voice startled him and he quickly glanced up at her. Tomoyo's signature all-knowing smile was plastered across her face. "Where would you like to begin?"_

_A thousand questions zoomed through his mind all at once. He wanted to know everything, but he knew that with time Sakura would answer them herself. For the time being, he just needed to know how to get her attention. "Well um…" he cleared his throat and nervously looked around to see if anyone he knew was nearby. When the coast was clear, he turned back to the raven-haired girl and spoke in a hushed voice, "I just want Sakura to look at _me_. We haven't really gotten off on the right foot and I want to fix everything so we can start fresh."_

_Tomoyo watched him as he spoke, leaving Syaoran feeling as though he was being tested. He hoped and prayed that Tomoyo wouldn't stand up and leave him feeling completely lost. When she picked up her tea to sip it again, he could tell she was doing it in attempt to hide the cheeky grin he had seen her with a few times. After seeing that smile, he knew that she wouldn't just leave him; she was going to help him anyway she could._

"_Sakura isn't as complex as you seem to think she is." Tomoyo began. Syaoran was slightly taken aback by the statement, but didn't speak any of the defences racing through his thoughts. "She likes things to stay professional, but she isn't so cold to deny friendship. She is really sweet and gentle, but as you've probably seen… her anger could scare just about anyone. But most of all, she's a very simple girl. She's kind of dense sometimes so the best way to get to her is with the truth._

"_The key to her is to always tell the truth and be honest about anything and everything. The fact that you started out the way you did has raised her defences because as far as she's seen so far, your only intentions towards her have been physical. When she took a chance when she thought that it wasn't all sexual lust to you, you got scared and literally ran away." She paused and gave him a moment to remember the time he had left her standing in her own office humiliated. Syaoran put his face in his hands waiting for Tomoyo to carry on and move away from that memory. "The best place to start this really the simplest: apologize."_

_Syaoran looked up at her with a stunned expression. _Is that really all it takes…?_ He thought. If that was all it took to start fresh then what was he waiting for? _

_He stood up and placed a couple hundred yen on the table, "Thanks Tomoyo." He used her first name completely informally, leaving Tomoyo slightly surprised but she smiled. He raced out of the store and hailed a taxi. If he could start fresh, he might as well do it as soon as possible._

That had been the plan, anyways. Syaoran groaned as he remembered what had actually happened. He had screwed up even more than before. If there had been any hope of fixing the way things were turning out, it had all been shattered when he had lost control over himself and kissed her in her apartment. Seeing her in casual clothing rather than her business suits and the jealousy that had welled up in him when she thought he would have been someone else, he acted without really thinking.

"It's completely unprofessional for me to call you like this, but I think all semblance of professionalism flew out the door with you when you ran out of the coffee shop to go and try and woo my best friend and called me by my given name." Tomoyo said cheerfully. Her happy attitude was too much for his exhausted and slightly hung over state of mind. "I called Sakura this morning…"

Syaoran immediately shot up from his slumped figure in bed. "W-What did she say…?"

Tomoyo sighed heavily, "In fewer words: you screwed up huge."

Syaoran groaned and flopped over again. He had known that he had pissed her off and made a mess of things the moment he broke the kiss and saw her expression. He had been too delirious to wipe the smile off his face, but he knew he needed to say something. Instead of saying something, he left. She had screamed so loud he was surprised the windows didn't shatter.

"Congratulations Syaoran…" Tomoyo said sadly, but Syaoran knew she was smirking to herself on the other end of the phone. "You have officially become the subject to Sakura's anger."

_She hasn't even come after me and I'm already scared…._ Syaoran groaned. His mission just became _that_ much harder.

* * *

_Thank you all so much for the support for Vices Versus Virtues and Amber Eyes!_

_If you have any suggestions or opinions on how V.V.V is progressing, then please leave a review and let me know what your thoughts are! I love hearing from you and your reviews help the stories flow (it's like magic)_

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_*~Ciara_


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